Caught in a brother triangle
by Sandy1983
Summary: Love is confusing, consuming..and inconvenient. Elena meets the man of her dreams..on her wedding day..
1. Prologue

Prologue

"So, how does it feel to be Mrs. Salvatore?" Caroline gushed into Elena's ear.

Elena turned her head into her best friend's direction and smiled. It was true; she was a married woman now. The day could not have been more perfect. She caught her husband staring at her from across the room and held his gaze for a second.

"It feels amazing, Care. It's the crowning of our relationship. I could not be happier," Elena said.

Caroline swooned next to her.

"People are calling you the dream couple, you know that, right? Do you realise how lucky you are?"

Elena took a sip of her champagne and nodded.

"That I do."

She had met Stefan Salvatore two years ago. Caroline had introduced them, actually. They had hit it off and started dating shortly after. A few months ago, Stefan had proposed. It was everything Elena had always wanted. She had always dreamed of finding a handsome husband; living the white picket fence life. She was getting all that now.

"I want what you have," Caroline pouted.

Elena started to laugh.

"The right man will come along for you. You just have to wait."

"You know, I heard that Stefan has a brother and that he is supposed to be here tonight. Do you know who he is?" Caroline inquired.

Elena shook her head.

Yes, she knew that Stefan had an older brother and that he was crazy about him. But she had never laid eyes on him. Apparently, he had taken over their father's business when he had died, setting up shop in their Rome establishment. Stefan had told her he had lived there for four years now, but that he was ready to come back to the States. The Rome establishment was doing well, so he would now take on the challenge of making the Mystic Falls establishment even more profitable.

Yes, the Salvatore family was filthy rich. But Elena didn't care about that and neither did Stefan. He had refused to work at their business. Instead, he became an artist, selling his pictures in galleries. He was doing quite well for himself.

"I'll just bet that Damon Salvatore is just as hot as Stefan is. Maybe even hotter. If I lay eyes on him tonight, he is going to be mine," Caroline vowed to Elena.

Elena chuckled.

Caroline Forbes; ever the incorrigible man eater.

"Happy hunting, then," she winked at her friend.

"What are you two girls gossiping about?" Stefan suddenly asked, standing right behind them.

Elena turned his way and kissed his cheek.

"About your brother, actually. Is he here yet?" she asked her husband.

Stefan shrugged and took a look around.

"I didn't see him yet. He's supposed to come," he sort of sulked.

Elena felt bad for him. He obviously loved his big brother dearly. If Damon didn't show up tonight.. Well, she would hate to think what that would do to him.

"I'm sure he'll be here shortly," she tried to reassure her husband.

Stefan gave a tight smile.

"We'll see. Did I mention how much I love you in that dress?"

Elena looked down at her white wedding gown. She had to admit it looked good on her. It had a tight bodice, emphasising her bosom. The dress flowed around the legs.

"Did I mention what I'm wearing underneath said dress?" Elena flirted.

Stefan's eyes bugged out, but before he had a chance to reply, a deep voice interrupted them.

"Please do tell. Now I'm curious."

Elena wanted to scold the stranger. He was highly inappropriate! But suddenly Stefan's eyes lit up and he wrapped his arms around the man.

"Damon! You made it!" he said excitedly.

Elena couldn't quite make out Damon's face. He was standing with his back towards her, hugging his brother close to him. But she was glad he had held his promise to Stefan.

"Of course I came, baby bro. I wouldn't miss your wedding party. So who's the poor girl marrying into our family?" she heard Damon joke.

He had a really deep, rumbling voice. It was almost…sexy. Just his voice screamed ladies man to her. She was sure he was the kind of man that went through women like he went through underwear. Not that she was thinking about his underwear..

"Elena, may I introduce my brother Damon. Damon, this is my wife Elena."

Stefan grinned from ear to ear as he stepped back to allow them to meet.

As soon as Damon Salvatore was in her line of vision, her breathing stopped. She could feel her heart beginning to flutter in her chest and her belly clench violently with pure, unadulterated lust. All sound seemed to fade around her as she took in this… god.

He had jet black hair and the most piercing blue eyes she had ever seen. Eyes that seemed to look right through her. He was taking her in, looking over her form with appreciation. It made Elena squirm.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elena," his husky voice said.

Holy shit! Did her legs just buckle? It was a good thing Stefan had wrapped an arm around her, holding her upright.

Her voice seemed to be lost, though, as Mr. Damon Sexy Salvatore gently took her hand in his and softly brushed his lips across her knuckles.

She could feel her blood pumping through her like hot lava, filling up her cheeks and making her blush like a high school kid. She realised she still hadn't said anything. She needed to speak, otherwise Stefan and Damon would think her to be rude.

She cleared her throat.

"The pleasure is all mine, Damon," she managed to get out.

Damon smiled at her and released her hand, before giving his brother a playful wink.

"Nice little lady you got here, bro. A real looker."

Stefan grinned back at him.

"I know. I got myself a catch here."

Damon's eyes landed on her again, smirking at her. He was making her uncomfortable!

"Would you mind terribly if I took that hot wife of yours for a spin on the dance floor? We need to get better acquainted," Damon proposed to his brother, without taking his eyes off of her.

Stefan shrugged.

"Be my guest."

Elena began to shake her head. She didn't want him to touch her. It was a very, very bad idea.

"No.. I.. I want to stay here with my husband if you don't mind. We still need to catch up with some people."

Damon raised an eyebrow at her refusal.

"Come on. One dance, Elena. I'll have you back by Stefan's side in 3 minutes tops," he persisted.

"Really, Elena. It's okay. I want you to get to know my brother," Stefan encouraged her.

Elena looked back from Damon to Stefan. She had no choice. So she placed her hand in Damon's extended one and let him lead her on the dance floor.

Of course, a slow song had to be played! Damon placed his right hand on her lower back, while his left grabbed hold of her right hand, swaying gently with her to the rhythm. Everywhere he touched, it burned right through her. He was intoxicating.

For some reason she closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. By god, this man was drop dead gorgeous! He didn't look like Stefan at all. When Stefan looked at her he was sweet, protective and warm. When Damon looked at her, he overwhelmed her. He consumed her. She assumed this man was very dangerous. She needed to stay far away from him. But for now, she couldn't.

"I can see why my brother is so smitten with you. You are lovely, Elena," he said next to her ear.

Elena shivered in his arms.

"Thank you. So I hear you're settling back in Mystic Falls permanently?" she tried to make conversation.

Damon nodded.

"Yes. The Mystic Falls Salvatore Enterprises establishment needs to do better. That's why I'm here."

"Will you be going back to Rome?"

She could hear him chuckling at her question.

"Eager to get rid of me, Elena?"

Elena blanched.

"That's not.. I mean.."

My god! Why couldn't she form a decent sentence around this man? He infuriated her with his easy attitude and cunning charm!

"No, Elena. Italy had nothing to offer me anymore. So I'll be staying," he clarified.

She turned back to look at him.

"I'm glad. Stefan misses you. I'm happy he'll get his big brother back," she told him.

Damon smiled at her, before continuing to guide her along the dance floor. Why did this song take so long to finish?

"So what are your plans after the wedding? Big honeymoon?" Damon inquired.

Elena shook her head.

"Stefan has to stay in town. Some of his pictures will be on display at a gallery in a few days."

"Ah, so Stefan is still into that kind of thing? Is it profitable?"

Elena scowled. She should have known this man was all business. He probably wouldn't understand the need to have passion in a career. The only thing he understood was money.

"Yes. We can support ourselves, Damon. Thank you very much!" she snapped at him.

Damon leaned back to look her in the eye. A move Elena was beginning to hate. For some reason, those eyes reeled her in.

"I'm sorry if I offended you, Elena. That wasn't my intention. I'm curious about my baby bro's life here. I didn't mean to offend anyone's job," he sincerely apologised.

That made Elena feel a little better. But her being not quite herself around him spurred her on in keeping him at bay. If she stayed mad at him, she could ignore the other things brewing inside of her.

"Maybe if you had bothered to show your face a little more in the past four years, you would have known yourself how your brother is doing."

Damon chuckled.

"Ouch! Feisty, aren't we. I like you, Elena. You've got fire. And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a while. Welcome in the family."

Before she had time to reply, the song ended. Damon leaned forward, carefully brushing her cheek with his lips.

"Thank you for the dance, Elena," he whispered in her ear.

Elena closed her eyes, willing her heartbeat to return to normal. This man made her feel insanely hot. She felt like she couldn't breathe.

Damn it! She was at her own wedding and this man was making her feel butterflies! This was wrong on so many levels!

Damon pulled back and released her.

Elena bolted.

She ran right off the dance floor and towards the restroom. She pulled the door open and flew towards one of the sinks, placing her palms flat down to try and get a hold of herself.

"What are you doing, Elena?" she asked herself in the mirror.

Her own reflection stared back at her, her face flushed, her breathing shallow and fast…

Caroline came in behind her, taking in her troubled form.

"I saw you run. What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked her.

Elena shook her head, clutching her chest to try and control her breathing.

"I feel like I can't breathe," she explained.

Caroline took hold of her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"Yes, you can. Breathe in and out. Deep and even breaths. There you go," she instructed Elena, breathing with her.

After a few minutes, her panic died down and she felt better.

"Thank you," she said to her friend.

Caroline chuckled a bit.

"Isn't it a bit late to be getting cold feet? I mean, you are already married," she joked.

Elena smiled with her.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"Well, you will be fine. You love Stefan. Everything will work out for you guys. There really is no need to have an emotional breakdown," Caroline said resolutely.

"You are right."

"So are you ready to get back towards the party?"

Elena nodded at her friend. She needed to get back. Caroline was right. She was going to be fine.

Later that night, Stefan and Elena arrived at the Salvatore boarding house; a place they now called their home.

"Do you want me to carry you over the threshold?" Stefan said playfully.

Elena gave him a tired smile.

"No, thank you. I just want to go to bed. It's been a long day."

Stefan nodded and closed the door behind them, watching her intently.

"You seemed tense around my brother. You don't like him, do you?" he suddenly asked her.

Elena almost jumped at his question. She straightened her shoulders and sighed.

"I don't know. He just rubs me the wrong way. I'm sorry."

Stefan wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't be sorry. I know Damon can be overpowering. But he's my big brother. I will always love him. So I'm hoping you can try to like him. Just a little."

He said it with a light chuckle, but Elena still felt guilty. Here she was, married to one brother while the other one made her feel things she somehow never felt before. It was intense and strong and very different to what she felt for Stefan. She had thought she had known all about love; about soul mates and other halves and fire and passion.

But one look at Damon told her otherwise. She knew nothing. Which was why she was going to stay as far away from him as she possibly could…

**Please review!**

**Twitter: Sandy1983b**


	2. Fighting Temptation

Chapter 1: Fighting temptation

"May I just say that you look absolutely breathtaking," a deep voice behind Elena said.

Everything in her body tensed up. That familiar tingle she felt when HE was near came into play. It had been a few weeks since she had last seen him but it hadn't lessened the attraction… the pull she felt towards him. She slowly turned around from the snacks she had been making.

"Damon," she coolly acknowledged him.

His eyes locked with hers and the corner of his mouth lifted up into a small smirk.

"This is only the second time I've seen you in a dress, but it really suits you. Way better than the jeans and sneakers," he told her.

Elena scowled at him. Now he was making fun of her clothing style?

"It's a compliment, Elena. Smile!"

Elena turned back around and focused on getting these snacks ready. She really didn't want to talk to HIM. He was right, though. This skin tight, black little cocktail dress hugged her in all the right places. Stefan had not been able to keep his eyes off of her.

She grinned.

It had been one of the many birthday presents she had bought for him. After his jaw had dropped to the floor at the sight of her in this dress, she had given him the all time, award winning surprise. The old-timer that he had kept in his garage for ages and had never used because it seriously needed to be fixed, would finally be able to go out for a spin thanks to her. She had saved up money for months, preparing for this. Fixing up an old-timer was expensive! But the look on his face had been worth it.

Damon pulled her out of her reverie by snatching a hors d'oeuvre from her plate.

"Hey!"

She whirled around angrily and swatted his arm, but he had already placed it in his mouth and was happily chewing.

"Mmm, sinfully delicious," he moaned.

The sound of his moan shot down straight towards her lower belly, making it clench in desire. She licked her suddenly way too dry lips.

"You're not supposed to be in here! You have to wait for these snacks like everybody else out there. Go back to the party!" she snapped, desperate to distract herself from the fact that her body was heavily betraying her.

He said nothing. He just continued to smirk at her.

"You're not surrounded by your usual arm candy. Have you run out of Mystic Falls women already?"

Damon put a hand on his chest where his heart was and feigned being hurt.

"Why Elena. Are you calling me a womanizer?" he chuckled.

Elena frowned at him.

"Well, I never see you alone. There's always a woman hiding somewhere behind you."

Damon shrugged.

"I am alone now."

His eyes locked with hers. Elena felt her heartbeat picking up at those intense blue eyes of his studying her. He had a confused frown on his face, as if he couldn't read her. Elena sure hoped he would NEVER be able to read her. If he knew what she was feeling… if Stefan somehow found out..

She cleared her throat, breaking his spell.

"While you are in here doing nothing anyway, you might as well carry a tray of horse d'oeuvres into the living room. The guests are waiting."

Damon gave her a half smile and picked up one of the trays she had prepared. He was almost out the door when he suddenly turned around again.

"Listen. I know we probably got off on the wrong foot. I understand that you're not a real big fan of me. But you're my sister-in-law and we have the love for one person in common. Let's be friendly to each other for the sake of him."

With those words he walked out of the kitchen, leaving Elena stunned….

She returned to the party and at Stefan's side grumpily. Had Damon Salvatore really just told her off? It didn't sit well with her.

"What's with the pout?" Stefan asked next to her.

Elena faked a smile and shrugged.

"Nothing really."

"Does it have something to do with Damon? I know you where in the kitchen with him for a while. He hasn't said anything to upset you, has he?"

Stefan examined her face, making her almost squirm underneath his gaze.

"No. Don't worry about it. His cocky attitude just makes me cranky sometimes," she explained.

Stefan nodded, but Elena could see he was disappointed in the fact that his wife and his brother were probably never going to get along. It made her feel awfully guilty, but really. What else could she do or say? The alternative was far worse. Everyone had to believe she detested the guy. It was pure self preservation.

"Happy birthday!" a loud, bubbly voice suddenly screeched next to them.

Leave it to Caroline to make an entrance!

She handed her present over to Stefan, kissing him on the cheek.

"I'm sorry I'm late. There was an accident out on route 5. I had to take a detour. But I'm here! Ready to liven up your party!"

Stefan chuckled.

"Parties can be cool without your presence too, you know," he teased her.

Caroline snorted.

"Hardly. Now, show me where the hot men are!"

Elena shook her head, laughing. She dearly loved this girl.

"I'm going to go talk to Damon. I'll be right back," Stefan announced, giving Elena a quick kiss.

Elena watched him go and sighed. Why did he have to be brothers with that man?

"Ugh! Damon's here?" Caroline scowled next to her.

Elena gave a sympathetic smile.

Caroline had gotten her wish after the wedding and had hooked up with Damon. But just as Elena suspected, the man was a notorious womanizer, quickly growing tired of her best friend. They hadn't even lasted a week. When Elena had confronted him about it, his answer had been that him and Caroline's character just weren't working together.

"_She talks more than I can listen,"_ he had told her.

She had blown up in his face about it, confiding in him that she and Caroline had been friends since first grade. Damon had apologised for saying anything bad about her, but that he still wasn't going to go out with her again. It was over.

"There are other cute men at the party, Care. Ignore him. I spotted Tyler Lockwood by the piano a few moments ago," she winked.

Caroline's eyes widened with excitement. He was her latest object of interest.

"I'll see you later!"

Elena grabbed hold of a glass of champagne, sipping it gently as she watched her husband interact with his brother. Rebekah Michaelson had joined them, talking animatedly with Stefan while giving Damon a look of interest. It wasn't long before she was giggling in a flirty way at everything that came out of Damon's mouth.

Elena wanted to roll her eyes. Another woman takes the fall!

Rebekah wasn't someone she particularly liked. She was too attention hungry. And way too pretty for her taste. It was just unfortunate that she had to be Stefan's promoter. She arranged for the expositions.

She watched as Stefan excused himself, leaving Damon and Rebekah alone. Rebekah sure didn't waste the opportunity, and practically crawled all over him. She was constantly looking for excuses to touch him and occasionally whispered in his ear. Damon, being the womanizer that he is, was apparently enjoying the attention. Elena saw him wrapping an arm around Rebekah's waist and smirking sexily at her.

There was this feeling coiling deep inside of her stomach as she watched them. It made her blood boil. She just wanted to pry that woman's hands off of him!

Taking a large gulp of champagne, she eyed them warily.

At the end of the night, she wasn't sure how much champagne she had guzzled down, but what she did know was that Rebekah and Damon had given the slip.

"Of course!" she muttered angrily. "Leave it to Damon, I fuck everything that moves, Salvatore to get lucky on his brother's birthday party!"

She whirled around, ready to refill her glass, when she began to feel a bit woozy. She bumped into someone in her attempt to stay steady on her high heels.

"Whoops!" she giggled.

"Are you okay?" a voice said.

Things were getting blurry. Noises were getting drowned out by the blood pounding in her ears. She needed some fresh air.

"I'm all right," she muttered, stumbling around for the exit.

Yes, fresh air would definitely do her some good.

She managed to reach the front door and wobbled onto the driveway. She then sank down onto the concrete.

"I just need to sit for a second," she breathed.

"Elena?" she heard a voice say. "Elena, are you all right?"

A man sank down in front of her, taking her face in his hands.

Damon..

"What are you doing here? I thought you.. you were off to screw Rebekah," she hiccupped.

She could hear him laugh.

"What? Come on. You're drunk. It's not safe to sit down in front of a bunch of cars. Let's get you inside."

He hoisted her off the driveway and put an arm around her to keep her upright.

"Does Stefan know where you are?"

Elena shook her head.

"I need to lie down," she murmured.

"Okay, I'll get you upstairs and let Stefan know his wife is a little out of it tonight," Damon chuckled.

For some reason, going up the stairs proved to be a real challenge suddenly. Her legs were not co-operating.

"Fuck these heels!" she spat angrily down at her feet.

Damon laughed and lifted her in his arms, carrying her bridal style up the stairs towards her bedroom.

"You are quite hilarious like this," he let her know.

Elena buried her face in his chest, sniffing him. He smelled amazing! Even his scent was sexy!

"Elena," Damon warned her. "You do realise I'm not Stefan, right?"

Elena burst out giggling.

"I know! But you're so cute!"

Damon stopped and stared down at her, before chuckling.

"I am so going to torture you with this once you are yourself again," he promised her.

He pushed her bedroom door open with his foot and put her down on the bed. He then knelt down to take her offensive heels off.

Elena felt her heartbeat pick up at his touch on her ankles, no matter how drunk she was. Her belly clenched with desire.

The silly little smile fell from her face as she watched him intently.

"There. All done," Damon told her.

He caught her staring and abruptly stopped talking. He noticed the subtle change in the air around her. A puzzled frown formed on his face.

"Elena? What is it? What are you doing?" he asked her.

Elena swallowed something.

"I was just thinking."

"About?"

"You are so different from your brother" she breathed.

Damon blinked.

"How so?"

Elena licked her tongue across her lower lip.

"Stefan is very easy to read for me, where you are annoyingly mysterious,"she told him.

Damon smirked at her.

"Annoyingly mysterious, huh? Was there something you wanted to know then?"

His cobalt eyes searched hers, trapping her in the depths of them.

It made Elena flush. Was it suddenly hot in here? Was it the alcohol talking? Or something else.. She fidgeted on the bed, looking down at her hands in her lap. Her throat felt constricted as she took in the heady, pressing atmosphere. Did he feel it too? Or was it just her?

"How do you see me?"she suddenly blurted out.

The question already embarrassed her as soon as the words were released from her lips. Being drunk and in his presence was a dangerous combination.

She carefully looked up to see Damon staring at her with an amused frown.

"How do I see you?"he repeated. "Elena, I think you are a beautiful, headstrong woman, who has had a bit too much to drink. Now, lie down before you do or say something that's amusing to me, but you will probably hate in the morning."

Elena looked up at him with wide eyes.

"You think I'm beautiful?"she asked him.

Damon gave her a small smile.

"Elena. Get in bed,"he told her sternly.

Elena scowled at him, but settled between the sheets as he told her.

"You may just not be so bad, Mr. Salvatore."

She watched as Damon stopped in his tracks.

"Why, Mrs. Salvatore. Are you warming up to me?"he asked in faux shock.

Elena grinned at him.

"No! I would never do that!"

They laughed together, before Damon leaned down to tuck her in. He gently kissed her flushed cheek, making the butterflies dance in her belly.

"Goodnight."

With that last breathed word, he left the room, turning off the lights as he went. It left her alone in the dark, with her too fast beating heart. She ghosted her fingers over the spot he had just kissed.

O boy…

**To say I am surprised myself by this update is an understatement. As most of you know, I decided to take a breather from writing. Too much was going on in real life. But then this came into my head. I hope you all like it. Other stories may be updated later. I am not putting any pressure on myself and have decided to take it easy and just wait what my muse tells me to do. **

**Please do review, though! My muse needs it ;)**

**Twitter: Sandy1983b**


	3. Dangerous territory

Dangerous territory

"Ma'am? Do you have an appointment?"

Elena quickly looked down from her gawking at the large reception hall of the building that was Salvatore Enterprises, to find a perfectly coifed blonde eying her in a bored manner. It was the type of woman Elena would imagine Damon to hire. She was almost model-like gorgeous.

What was she doing? She hadn't planned to come here. She had woken up after her drunk stupor yesterday morning to find herself mortified that she had not only been drunk, but had given Damon subtle hints about how sexy she thought he was. She remembered it all. Luckily, she had not seen him since and Stefan had only chuckled a bit at her hangover. Everything had gone back to normal pretty quickly.

So why was she here?

She had no idea. It was her day off from work today, so she had gone out for a stroll. For some reason, it had lead her here, in front of Damon Salvatore's office building. His receptionist was still crankily staring at her, waiting for her answer. Elena cleared her throat.

"I'm afraid I don't have an appointment. But Mr. Salvatore knows who I am. Could you please inform him that I'm here?" she tried with the stiff blonde.

Miss perfect and poised sighed in an irritated fashion.

"I'm sorry, Miss. Mr. Salvatore is a busy man. Unless you have an appointment, I can't let you through."

Elena wanted to scowl at her. It was embarrassing enough that she had walked all this way to see a man she had desperately wanted to avoid. But it would be even more embarrassing if she was rejected on top of that.

"I understand Mr. Salvatore is busy. But could you just let him know that I'm here? If he himself tells you that he can't see me, I'll leave," she told the receptionist sweetly.

The blonde narrowed her eyes at her, before huffing.

"Fine."

Elena could see her pressing a button.

"Mr. Salvatore, I'm sorry for disturbing you. But I have a.."

Miss annoying paused to look at Elena. She wanted her name.

"Elena Salvatore," Elena told her.

A perfectly tweezed eyebrow shot up at her answer. The blonde had to recompose herself for a moment before she could continue.

"Elena Salvatore is here to see you. I already told her that your schedule is packed for the day, but…"

Apparently, Damon had interrupted her and told her something that made both the woman's eyebrows shoot up this time.

"Sir?" the receptionist questioned. "But your meeting..?"

Damon seemed to interrupt her again, and Elena wanted to burst out laughing at the incredulous expression on the previously sour woman's face.

"Very well, Sir. I'll send her up."

The receptionist recomposed herself and was back to cranky mode, calmly informing her to take the elevator at the end of the large hall to the very top of this building. Elena squeezed out a 'thank you' and made her way over towards said elevator. Once inside, she became overwhelmed by an attack of nerves.

This was such a bad idea! What would she tell him about her reasons for coming? Why DID she even come? It was too late to turn around and flee. He already knew she was on her way up. If she left now, things would be even weirder.

When the elevator reached its' destination, Elena braced herself for the overpowering impact this man's presence always had on her.

The doors slid open to reveal an incredible office space. The first thing Elena noticed were the floor-to-ceiling windows that gave an incredible view of Mystic Falls. Her mouth dropped open, as she took in the rest of the room. It was amazingly decorated; black leather seats, dark wooden furniture…. Damon sat in the middle, at a large sized desk. He was in a leather chair, calmly assessing her. He looked as if he was right were he belonged.

"Surely one man does not need all of this space?" was the first thing Elena blurted out.

Damon chuckled and stood up, walking over towards her.

"Maybe I don't really NEED it. But I want it."

There was something in the way he said "WANT" that made Elena's knees buckle. God, this man was so in tune with himself!

Damon gave her a lopsided smirk and shrugged.

"I don't know. People always say how men are obsessed with big things. I guess I'm no different."

Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Are you overcompensating for something else then? People always say THAT too."

The moment the words had left her mouth, she immediately wanted to take them back. How mortifying! Had she really just addressed his penis?!

Damon stared at her for a moment, obviously a bit shell-shocked, before throwing his head back in laughter.

"I see you've still got your biting wit. I like it. Come, let me take your coat."

Elena was relieved at the change of subject. She let Damon slide the coat from her shoulders. He then pulled back the chair in front of his desk and motioned for her to sit down. As Elena slid down in the comfortable leather, Damon took his place back behind his desk. He folded his hands in front of him and looked at her.

"So, Elena. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Elena swallowed.

Yes, why was she here?

"I guess I wanted to thank you for your help at Stefan's party. I usually don't act like that. Whatever I said.. I was just so out of it. It will never happen again. I'm sorry you had to deal with me," she told him.

Damon leaned back in his chair.

"It's okay, Elena. We've all been there. Don't apologize. Besides, you were a funny drunk. I rather enjoyed taking care of someone who was addressing my cute-ness," he winked.

Elena buried her head in her hands, embarrassed. She knew he would tease her about that at some point. He wasn't the kind of person to let her off the hook.

"O god! Listen, I was drunk. I can't be hold accountable for my words," she tried to save face.

"Still, sometimes it's said people speak the truth when inebriated."

"Not me. I start to talk rubbish. I usually mean the exact opposite of what I'm saying."

"So what you really meant was what an ugly mongrel I am?" Damon questioned her.

Elena nodded.

"Exactly."

Damon shook his head, smiling.

"You are an intriguing woman, Elena. I usually have women pegged in two seconds flat. Not you, for some reason."

This actually relieved Elena. If he couldn't read her, then he couldn't know about the inner turmoil she felt when he was near.

"Okay, how about lunch? I'm hungry. I cancelled my meeting anyway to see what you were up to. Join me," Damon said.

So he really cancelled his meeting for her? Just to see what she had to say to him? Why would he do that?

She eyed him warily, while he was still waiting for her response. Going to lunch with him would be a bad idea. But still, everything about what she was doing today seemed to be a bad idea. What was one more?

"Okay."

Damon's face broke out into a surprised smile.

"Okay then. Let's go. I know a place that serves pretty good dishes a few blocks from the company."

He wasn't wrong.

He took her to a nice lunchroom that had a patio outside. They were surrounded by different types of flowers, while they breathed in the afternoon air. Damon had ordered various types of bread and cheeses, accompanied by a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. It was to die for!

"I find it fascinating. What made you want to take over the company after your father's death? I know Stefan never wanted to. Why did you?" Elena began, trying to make conversation.

Damon leaned back in his chair, thinking it over.

"Well, I guess I wanted to prove my father wrong. You see, he saw me as a reckless boy, stumbling ahead in life. When he died, I vowed to make the company even more of a success than it already was."

Elena blinked at him in surprise.

She had heard from Stefan about the strained relationship between Damon and their father. Stefan had always felt guilty about it, because Giuseppe Salvatore had obviously favoured one son over the other. She guessed it hurt Damon more deeply than he let on, if it had made him want to prove himself worthy of his father's love, even if he had died.

"Well, from the looks of it, you succeeded."

Damon smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"What about you? Why write short stories for a magazine?" he changed the subject.

Elena smiled wistfully, thinking about her reasons for writing.

"I love to write. I always wrote in journals, keeping track of various things going on in my life. It helped me cope with the death of my parents, back when I was seventeen. Later, I began to write stories. I sent a draft to a magazine, and here I am," she explained.

"That's amazing, how you took your parents' death and turned it around into a passion for the written word. My respect."

"Thank you."

Elena bit her lip and felt like bolting suddenly. Were they actually getting along, even if only for a few moments? That was not good. Not good at all. She looked down at her wedding ring and twirled it around her finger. Stefan.. Yes, she needed to think about her love for Stefan.

"I think passion is very important in life. That's why I admire Stefan for trying to make it in the art business."

Damon wiped his mouth with his napkin; a move that was very distracting.

"Yes, passion is good. But you also need to keep in mind the fact that you have to be able to make a living for yourself. I looked into Stefan's work. Although he is very talented, his pictures don't raise enough to make ends meet."

"It will happen for him. He works very hard," Elena told him.

"I'm sure he does. I just hope it works out. Otherwise, he has some tough decisions ahead of him."

Elena's mouth set in a hard line.

"Not all of us can live it up in Italy or watch the world from our ivory tower, Damon! Yes, money wise, it's tight. But we're managing just fine. And we're happy. That's the most important thing there is!" she snapped.

Damon held up his hands in surrender.

"Sorry, I was rude. It's not my place to interfere. Passion is a dangerous thing, though. If it keeps you focussed, it's good. But it can get you side-tracked. I don't tolerate distractions in my life."

"So instead you live your life just going through the motions? Wow, who screwed you up?" Elena blurted out.

She regretted the words as soon as she saw something dark pass over Damon's face. The man obviously had a lot of issues with passion.. or maybe he meant the passion you feel when you're in love.. It would explain some things. She didn't know about his mother, Stefan rarely talked about her, but it was obvious that their father had not shown Damon a whole lot of affection.

Damon Salvatore didn't do love. It was a sad thought.

"Passion is everything, Damon! It's what keeps us going. It guides us. It makes everything perfectly clear; the joy of love, the clarity of hate… It's our driving force. Sure, if we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. Because sometimes it hurts more than we can bear. But we would be hollow. Without passion, what's the point? We would be as if dead."

Damon's face remained unreadable after her little outburst. His eyes were still dark, but not in anger anymore. There was something else.. And it terrified her. Because it made her butterflies act up again.

Suddenly, he cracked up.

"Elena Salvatore; passion's advocate. You've been reading too many fairytales as a child, Elena. Passion isn't our answer. It's our weakness. Anyway, let's go. I have to get back to work."

Elena followed him out of the restaurant, thinking about the things he had said. She now knew there was a reason for him being such a jerk all the time; why he seemed so arrogant and detached. Behind all of this façade, there was a hurt little boy.

She suddenly looked at him from a new perspective. It made him..even more attractive.

'_Leave it alone, Elena. It is not your place to fix him. Walk away!'_ an inner voice screamed at her.

As they stopped in front of his office building, Damon turned around to look at her. His blue eyes once again left her breathless and stunned.

"In spite of our difference of opinion, I enjoyed our lunch, Elena. Let's be civilized more often," he chuckled.

"Yes, I enjoyed myself too," Elena said.

Something in his gaze made her heart pound in her chest. It was like her whole world spun on its axes, leaving her reeling. His eyes searched her face, before finally landing on her lips. The look made Elena part her lips in anticipation of.. what exactly? It had probably all been in her head, for moments later, Damon was as cool and poised as ever, giving her a lopsided smile.

"I guess I'll see you around," he said, before turning around and sauntering back towards his office.

He never once looked back….

**Please review!**

**Twitter: Sandy1983b**


	4. Drops of Liquid

Drops of liquid

Elena slammed her car door shut and rushed towards the front door of the boarding house. She was late! It had been one of those days. Traffic jams, spilled coffee on her favourite jeans and her boss riding her about her latest article for the magazine. And now, she was late. Tonight was Stefan's latest exposition. Big potential buyers were coming. It was very important to him. He needed her at his side.

Damn, she still had to shower, change clothes and apply make up. It would be a race against time.

"Stefan?!" she called out as soon as she entered the house. "I'm here. I'll take a shower real quick and get dressed in records time. Promise!"

She yelled out the words, racing up the stairs as she went. Therefore, she failed to hear Stefan and his warning…

Rushing into the bathroom, she kicked off her sneakers. She was about ready to take off her shirt when she heard the shower running. O good, Stefan wasn't ready either! Maybe she wasn't that late after all.

Smiling, she pulled the shower door open, ready to join him. However, she was met by a sight which stopped her dead in her tracks.

Stefan wasn't the one in her shower. It was another man, facing away from her, but she would recognise those jet black locks of hair anywhere. Drops of water were dripping down his body, emphasising his hard muscles. He was absolutely flawless. He was running his hands through his wet hair, causing the muscles in his back muscles to ripple. Elena was glued to the spot, her eyes travelling down his perfect body. She swallowed as she took in his rear. It was tight and firm.

Her heart was beating frantically and she noticed an ache deep down in her womanhood. She almost wished he would turn around, so she could see all of him. No doubt he was perfect up front too.

In that moment he did turn around, almost as if he could read her thoughts. Or maybe he just heard the loud pounding of her heart. Damn! She had to do something! Otherwise he would know that she had been gawking at his spectacular frame.

"O my God!" she screeched, covering her eyes with her hands.

"Elena?" she heard Damon's surprised voice saying.

"What are you doing in my shower?!"

Her voice sounded angry. Good. Better than shaky with lust!

She was still covering her eyes, although she couldn't help but peer through the cracks between her fingers. She watched him turning off the shower quickly, grabbing a white towel, wrapping it around his waist.

"Okay, I'm decent... Well, close enough," Damon chuckled.

Elena removed her hands and glared at him.

"The last time I checked, you still had your own shower in your own apartment! Why are you here?" she bit out.

Damon shrugged and casually went about getting ready.

"Stefan invited me to his exposition tonight. I told him I had a late meeting and I couldn't make it in time if I went back home to my apartment to change. It's in the suburbs, you know," he winked at her.

Okay, that made sense.

Elena took a deep breath, trying to will the flush to leave her face and desperately trying to avoid staring at his chest.

"Okay, well. Out! I'm in a hurry too," she told him.

Damon chuckled and walked past her, his arm accidentally brushing against hers as he went.

"I hope I didn't use up all the hot water," he rumbled.

Elena closed the door behind him and sagged against it, willing her heartbeat to slow down….

"Where did Damon go?" she asked as soon as she had gotten dressed and ready for Stefan's big evening. He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and turned around as she descended it, gawking at her tight, red cocktail dress.

"You look stunning," he whispered.

She smiled and took his hand, letting him walk her towards their car.

"Damon went ahead in his own car. We'll meet him there. He told me about the shower incident. I tried to warn you he was in there as soon as you got home, but you were in such a hurry and up the stairs before I had a chance. I hope seeing my brother naked wasn't too horrible on you," Stefan laughed.

Elena swallowed. Damon being naked was horrible? Not really…

"I'm sure that image will one day be forgotten," she joked back.

But deep down, she knew his naked backside would haunt her tonight.

Luckily, they didn't arrive that late at the exposition. Still, as soon as Stefan stepped through the doors with her, he was immediately surrounded by his promoter, Rebekah, and several potential buyers, leaving Elena to fend for herself. It didn't take too long to spot Caroline, though, who had also come to support her friend. To Elena's surprise, she was locking arms with Tyler Lockwood.

"O my God, Elena! There are so many new customers! Stefan is going to nail this tonight!" She buzzed excitedly.

"I hope so. A lot is at stake for him."

"O right! Where are my manners? Elena Salvatore, this is Tyler Lockwood. My date," Caroline winked on the last word.

Elena gave her a big grin, before turning her attention to Tyler.

"We've met before," she said. "But it's nice to see you again, Tyler."

"Your husband sure has talent, Elena. My mother is thinking about buying the entire oceanfront section tonight. She says it would look great in her house," Tyler told her.

Elena's eyes lit up. The mayor was buying her husband's work? It would be amazing advertisement if she purchased anything.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Damon talking to said mayor; Carol Lockwood. The mayor seemed to be quite fond of Damon, talking animatedly to him while touching his arm occasionally. It made Elena wonder if there would ever be a woman who was not even remotely attracted to Damon.

Her mind drifted towards his naked body, which had been in her shower not too long ago. As if on cue, his head turned around in her direction. His smile seemed to freeze on his lips as he looked at her, his eyes travelling over her form.

Elena cleared her throat and focussed her attention back on Tyler.

"It would be amazing if she bought something. My husband spent a great deal of time on those pictures."

Her voice sounded hoarse. To make matters worse, she spotted Damon coming their way.

"Hello ladies, Tyler," he greeted everyone.

Caroline rolled her eyes and seemed to lean in towards Tyler a little more.

"Damon," she spat out.

"Nice to see you again, Caroline."

Caroline positively scowled at him.

"I wish I could say the same. I'm sorry, Tyler. It's getting a little hot in here. Would you mind going for some fresh air with me?"

"That girl does not like me," Damon chuckled as they watched Caroline dragging Tyler away.

Elena sighed dramatically.

"We've already talked about that one."

"Ah yes, we did talk about your perception that I fuck everything in a skirt and how I can't maintain a relationship beyond a few days."

Elena grabbed a glass of champagne off of a tray from a nearby waiter and took a sip.

"Am I wrong?" she asked him. "You're the one who basically pointed out you don't do love."

"Elena, the fact that I don't succumb to some sort of chemical reaction of my brain does not mean I don't know how to keep a lady happy for a longer period of time," Damon let her know.

Elena wanted to laugh at him.

"O really? What was your longest relationship then?"

Damon eyed her seriously; his eyes dark, making her think she had once again crossed the line. But before she could apologize, he answered her.

"Three years."

Elena almost spat out her champagne. Three years?

She watched as he walked off towards a section that was less crowded, eying pictures as he went. She followed him. She had to know more.

"Three years?" she whispered incredulously as she continued walking slowly next to him.

Damon nodded.

"Yep. I met her in Italy. She was very beautiful. A lot like you in that department." He caught Elena's gaze, making her blush and look down.

"She was also very complicated and selfish, and mostly not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."

"What happened?" Elena wanted to know.

Damon turned to stare at one of Stefan's pictures. It was one he had made of a crowded street. Cars were flashing by, making their headlights appear as rays of light.

"Let's just say it…ended."

Elena watched him closely, realising it must have been awful for him. She stepped back as he turned around, his eyes dark.

"So Elena, I do know about passion. I do know what it's like to have that absolute hunger devouring you whenever that person is near."

He seemed to trap her, his penetrating gaze reeling her in. Elena pressed herself against the wall behind her, trying to protect herself from the effect his words were having on her.

"To want something so bad, your entire body aches. How the blood screams inside your veins, trying to force you to follow its' will. It's excruciating and it can be excruciatingly good once you give in. But giving in is not always the smart choice."

Elena's chest began to heave. Were they still talking about his mystery girl? His words shot straight towards every nerve ending in her body. Her nipples puckered against her dress and she could feel wetness seeping between her thighs.

Suddenly, Damon straightened up and broke the atmosphere.

"See, I can be passionate," he winked. "I just prefer to keep a level head."

From somewhere behind his back he produced a red rose. He held it up in front of her. Dazed, Elena accepted it.

"I have to go now. People to see. Enjoy your evening, Elena."

He gently raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. After that, he sauntered off.

Okay, what the hell was that?!

"Has anyone seen Elena?" she suddenly heard her husband say.

She quickly made her way back to her husband's side, still holding the rose in her hand.

"Hey sweetheart. This evening is going great! There seem to be lots of buyers, including the mayor!" he pointed out excitedly.

"That's great news, Stefan. I'm very happy for you."

Stefan wanted to take her hand in his, but then noticed the red rose.

"Do I have some competition, Elena?" he chuckled.

Elena put the rose in her hair. It actually suited her dress.

"No, your brother gave it to me. I think it was a peace offering," she explained.

Stefan seemed surprised.

"Are you suddenly getting along now?"

"Hardly," Elena huffed.

Elena noticed Damon leaving from the corner of her eye. And he wasn't leaving alone. Rebekah Michaelson was clinging to him, making it very apparent what it was that they were going to do. Elena felt her stomach ache at the thought.

"And there he goes again," she grumbled crankily. "I swear, Stefan. His bed sees more action than a Bruce Willis movie!"

Stefan threw back his head and laughed at this.

"He's very..active, yes. But if he enjoys this lifestyle, then that's his business…"

Elena couldn't stop thinking about it. As she lay in bed that night, her mind went into overdrive. Damon on top of Rebekah. Damon inside of Rebekah. She wanted to retch, but the images wouldn't leave her. He was probably screwing her right now.

She angrily punched her pillow a few times, trying to get comfortable. But sleep wouldn't come. She thought about his passionate words; words that had managed to turn her on. It was like he had been able to read every emotion she felt whenever he was near. He had said it as if he had been yearning for her, instead of that woman in Italy. And that was plain crazy! Nobody was yearning here. She was just having an overactive imagination and yes, he was drop dead gorgeous, which made her attracted to him. There was nothing wrong with that.

She loved Stefan.

She sighed as she rolled over towards the empty bedside. Her husband was downstairs, too wired to sleep. It was nice to see how excited he was. He would prove Damon wrong and make his money with this. His passion.

Passion.

Damon talking about passion.

Damon naked in her shower.

O God, she had to stop! She was driving herself crazy here. Not to mention a bit horny. She could already feel her thighs becoming sticky because of her wicked thoughts. Seeing Damon naked had made things worse. He was even more perfect than she had imagined. How she would have loved to step into that shower with him…

She would have pressed her breasts against his wet, naked back, hardening her nipples. Her hand would have slid down his body to gently squeeze one of those sexy cheeks. She would kiss his neck and lave at his pulse point. God, she would love to hear him moan! What would it sound like? She already knew it would be sexy as hell!

Then her hand would slide towards the front and grab hold of his already erect cock, pumping him slowly and sweetly, agonizing him. Of course, he would have none of her teasing and turn around, pushing her into the glass shower wall. His tongue would dive into her mouth, tasting her, teasing her, seducing her. He would kiss down towards one of her breasts, biting her little bud until she yelped. He would slide his fingers down towards her sex and gently probe inside of her, filling her up. The heel of his hand would press into her clit while his fingers pushed in and out of her. He wouldn't stop until she was on the pinnacle of orgasm.

Then he would pull his fingers out and push his cock back in, the sensation of his large girth making her walls quiver and tremble until she screamed with an orgasm so good, she was afraid she would pass out.

Then he would fuck her senseless…

"O God!" Elena cried into her pillow as her inner walls fluttered around her own fingers. Her juices surged forward as she contracted deliciously with the intensity of her orgasm.

"Yes.."

The fluttering inside of her gradually stopped and Elena pulled out her fingers. It was in that exact moment of clarity that she realised she had just gotten herself off to the image of her and her naked brother in law having sex, while her husband was only a few feet away…

**A/N: O my. Things are heating up ;) Damon's words surely weren't just meant for that mysterious girl back in Italy? What do you think? Do you think Damon went off to have sex with Rebekah to let off some steam..to forget about a certain pull he feels? Tell me in a review! **

**Twitter: Sandy1983b**


	5. Family Affairs

**Family affairs**

"Mm, that smells delicious!" Elena almost moaned as she entered the kitchen.

Her husband was cooking up a storm and every bit of it smelled absolutely mouth watering. It was perfect, just like she had thought their Christmas dinner would be. Stefan had wanted them to spend their first Christmas together spent with the people who they loved. Since both of their parents were already gone, it meant the world to Stefan to gather the little family they had left around the dinner table on Christmas Day.

She wrapped her arms around Stefan from behind and peeked over his shoulder.

"Did I ever mention that I love having a husband who does all the cooking? I would probably still be ordering take out if it wasn't for you," she chuckled.

Stefan stirred the sauce in front of him.

"It runs in the Salvatore gene pool to be able to cook. It's because of our Italian heritage. Actually, Damon is even better at it than I am. I hope you'll get to taste his goods one of these days."

Elena swallowed harshly at Stefan's bad choice of words. Taste Damon Salvatore's goods? Better not!

"Speaking of your brother.. He's not bringing that harlot of a woman, is he?" she almost scowled.

Stefan froze in front of her.

"Actually, I'm the one that invited her. We were working together the other day when we started talking about Christmas. She doesn't have anywhere to go. I felt bad for her. Since she seems to be dating my brother, I asked her to come. Please don't be mad."

Elena wasn't mad. She was pissed!

"And you didn't think to ask me first? What the hell, Stefan! You know I don't like that woman!"

Stefan turned around and took her in his arms.

"I know. I'm sorry. But she's been in my life for years now. She's done a lot of good for me. I couldn't let her spend Christmas alone in her apartment. Besides, like I said. Maybe Damon would have brought her as a date anyway. Come on, Elena. It's Christmas," he pouted.

Elena sighed and relented a bit.

"Let's just hope that your brother will be able to keep himself in check around her, then."

She felt her stomach knotting because of the fact that she would have to watch Damon and Rebekah getting friendly in front of her. It already bothered her to KNOW that they were having sex together. She didn't need to see it.

She remembered the discussion she had had with Damon after finding out that he and Rebekah had run off that night of Stefan's exposition to go and screw each other's brains out.

"_Congratulations, Damon! You've just nailed the last available woman in Mystic Falls. What's next? Married women? Because there certainly aren't any single women left that haven't been in your bed!"_

_Damon playfully raised his eyebrows at her. _

"_Married women? Are you offering, Elena?" he teased. _

"_You are the most disgusting.. the most vile excuse for a man! You have no scruples! If my pencil sharpener wore a skirt, I'd have to hide it!"_

"_I'm a grown up here, Elena. I'm allowed to do whatever the hell I want. I don't need you wagging your finger at me!"_

_Elena narrowed her eyes at him. _

"_Don't you want to settle down at some point? I know you've been in love once. Don't you want to have that again?"_

_Damon sighed dramatically._

"_Here we go, it's the passion speech again! Let me tell you something, Elena.."_

_He stepped closer to her and eyed her seriously. _

"_Love is painful, pointless and overrated. I'm not going there again. Ever."_

It had made Elena wonder what he had been through.

"Honey, that's the doorbell. Could you get it, please?" Stefan voice ripped her out of her thoughts.

Elena straightened out her short, black skirt and made her way towards the front door.

"Jeremy!" she squealed out excitedly, once she had spotted her younger brother standing in front of her with his family. "I'm so happy you could make it!"

"Me too, sis. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for your wedding," he apologised.

"Nonsense, Jer. You live half way across the country and your wife had just given birth. Now let me see my niece!"

Jeremy's wife Anna stepped forward with a small, three month old baby in her arms.

"She's so beautiful! I can't believe you're a dad now!" Elena gushed.

"Me neither."

"Well, come inside! Let me take your coats. We can catch up in the living room."

Jeremy's family settled in front of the roaring fire with their baby, while Elena went to collect Stefan to say hi.

"Jeremy, so good to see you again. Anna. How are you doing?" Stefan greeted them.

"I'm doing well. Having a baby around can be tiresome. But Ava is adorable and completely makes up for the lack of sleep," Anna told them with a smile.

"Can I hold her?" Elena blurted out.

"Of course."

Anna took the baby out of her seat and handed her over to Elena. She watched in awe as the brown eyed baby stared up at her in wonder. She was so tiny, but her eyes were already curiously taking in the world around her. Her chubby cheeks dented as she smiled up at Elena.

"I see she's already reeling you in, sis. So what about you two? Any plans to give my daughter a cousin?" Jeremy teased them.

Elena looked up at Stefan, while he shook his head at her brother.

"We still have to get settled in. Besides, my work is very demanding right now. I still have to make a name for myself, which would require me to travel a lot in the upcoming years. I wouldn't want Elena to have to go through it on her own."

Elena was almost disappointed with his answer. Yes, things would be difficult if she got pregnant since he was away most of the time. But she was definitely strong enough to manage it. She did want children in the near future. And did he say years?

The doorbell rang again and Elena jumped up, holding the baby.

"Let's go see who that is!" she chatted happily with her niece.

A shocked look greeted her on the other side of the front door. Damon was looking wide eyed at her holding a baby. She almost wanted to laugh at his confused expression.

"Elena," he greeted. "I didn't know you could have babies within two weeks. The last time I saw you, you were still as flat as a board. Unless you were hiding this cutie from me."

He raised his hand and tapped Ava's chubby cheek, causing her to smile widely at him. Elena almost wanted to roll her eyes. He even managed to charm the little ones!

"This is my niece, Ava. She's my brother's daughter," she explained to him.

From behind him, Rebekah stepped forward, giving Elena a haughty look.

"Elena. Nice of you to invite me over," she said stiffly.

Elena put on a fake smile and ushered them inside towards the rest of the family in the living room. She introduced Damon and Rebekah to her brother and sister-in-law, while putting Ava back into her chair.

"Once again, my compliments on how well you look, Elena. I think I've told you before that you should ditch the jeans and sneakers more often. I mean, look at you," Damon's deep voice rumbled behind her.

She turned around with her heart betraying her yet again. His words, combined with his intoxicating presence were lethal. She looked down at what she was wearing. High, black pumps, a black short mini skirt that emphasised her long legs and a white blouse. Her hair was curled for the occasion.

"Thank you, Damon," she breathed.

Damon took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, kissing it softly. The move made her blood pump madly inside of her. Her cheeks actually flushed a bit! Damn him!

"Guys, look who's here!" Stefan's excited voice behind them said.

An elderly woman stood next to him. Elena recognised her as Damon and Stefan's grandmother Sophia, from their mother's side. Someone who Stefan spoke very highly of, and because of the way Damon almost leapt over towards her indicated that he too, was very fond of the woman.

"Grandma! Would you look at you! You are getting lovelier by the year!" Damon gushed as he kissed his grandmother's cheek.

"And you, my dear, are a sweet talker. I bet you make all the ladies weak in the knees!" Sophia winked. "Have you roped anyone in yet?"

Damon coughed a bit, obviously trying to figure out how to answer this. He couldn't exactly come out and say that he only had fuck buddies. Elena watched in rapt fascination how he would save face to his beloved grandmother.

"Well, grandma. I've been spending some time with this lovely lady here."

Damon grabbed Rebekah's arm and lead her in front of Sophia. Sophia eyed the blonde up and down, before turning to look at her grandson.

"She's not Italian."

Elena wanted to laugh at Rebekah's flustered face. Sophia had obviously already made up her mind about the blonde woman.

"Come on, grandma. Elena is not Italian either," Damon shot back.

"Elena didn't spend four years in Italy without visiting me, child."

Without addressing it further, Sophia walked over towards Elena and took hold of both of her hands. She smiled warmly at her.

"How are you doing, darling? Is my grandson treating you the way that he should?"

"Yes, nana Sophia. You taught him well," Elena told her….

After catching up and Caroline's and Tyler's arrival, the dinner party could start. Everyone enjoyed Stefan's home cooked Italian meal, while stories were told about Stefan and Damon's childhood and adolescence. Elena had a fun night. Even Rebekah adapted herself nicely.

"I am telling you, people. Damon has always been a fan of everything in a skirt! Once, when he was just eight years old, I caught him underneath the dinner table, looking up every woman's dress that was seated! He was such a rascal. And the questions he would ask me about boobies! Dear Lord!"

The whole table erupted into a fit of laughter, while Damon seemed to feel very awkward.

"Oh and he would love to play doctor with girls that came over for play dates!"

"I think I'm going to hide my daughter right now," Jeremy chuckled.

Damon put an arm around his grandma.

"Come on. I wasn't that bad! Besides, I always respected them. Just like you taught me."

"Respect is not buying them breakfast after you're done with them, my child," she joked.

Elena wiped at the tears that were running down her cheeks from laughter. Sophia seemed to know her grandson so well. But besides all the jabbing she was doing now to mess with him, she also seemed to love him dearly. It was a nice sight to see them looking at each other with adoration. It was a side of Damon she rarely got to see.

"Okay, people. If you would gather in the living room, I will serve dessert!" Stefan announced excitedly.

Elena didn't follow the crowd. She stepped outside for a moment to get some fresh air. Their backyard always soothed her with its' fine scenery. The trees, flowerbeds and ponds were like a dream.

"You're missing dessert," Damon announced behind her.

She hadn't even heard him coming outside.

"That's okay. I like the peace and quiet," she explained.

Damon came to stand next to her and gave her a smile.

"You seem to be quite taken with my grandmother."

Elena shrugged.

"What's not to love. She's elegant, sophisticated and has a biting wit about her. And she really has got you under her thumb!" she laughed.

"She does not! You know me; I do whatever I want."

Elena turned his way and eyed him with a serious frown.

"Come on, Damon. It's obvious that you adore her. You are very good with her."

"You sound surprised, Elena."

"A bit. You seemed like a career driven, callous man to me in the beginning."

"And now?"

His question lingered in the air as Elena contemplated how to answer this. If she spoke too fondly of him, he would see right through her.

She cleared her throat, trying to put much thought into her words.

"Now, you do seem to have a heart for the special people in your life. The way you dote on your grandmother, how sweet you were with Ava. Yes, you are a womanizer with a lot of fleeting contacts and you can be frustrating as hell. But when someone gets to you, you let them all the way in. You let them see the good in you. I wish you would do that more often."

Damon became quiet next to her.

"When people see good, they expect good," he explained himself. "I'm done living up to anyone's expectations."

He looked deeply into her eyes as she tried to make sense of his words. So he refused to live up to people's expectations of him? She guessed it had to do with his father's hard lessons. Underneath all of his bravado and obnoxiousness, there was a longing for acceptance.

"You're a peculiar man, Damon Salvatore."

"Peculiar can be a good thing, Elena," he winked playfully at her.

"Well, you're certainly not boring. And you make for a good sparring partner."

Damon threw his head back and laughed.

"Yes, we argue very well, don't we? I'm sure we drive Stefan crazy."

"You drive ME crazy!" Elena shot back.

"And here I was thinking that I don't affect you at all. Good to know."

Elena swallowed at his words. Yes, he had an affect on her. And not in a way that anyone would ever suspect.

"Stefan is very lucky, you know," he suddenly told her. "I know we don't get along that well, but I see a lot in you that I find incredible. Your passion for life, the way you always try to see the good in people, your feisty nature.. He's found himself quite a woman."

He leaned forward to softly kiss her cheek, and the atmosphere changed from playful to charged in seconds flat. Elena was very aware of his every move. The way his lips brushed the skin of her cheek, his breath on her face, his body heat.. Damon seemed to notice it too, for he drew back with a fiery look in his eyes. They searched hers for the answer of what exactly was happening between them right now. But she didn't have the answer.. She didn't know why there was this intense pull between them. She didn't know why he made her feel things Stefan couldn't. She didn't know why every fibre of her being wanted to kiss him now.

His lips were on hers before anyone of them could stop to think. It had to happen. Everything had been building up to this. His lips softly brushed against hers first, which caused an explosion deep down low in her belly. When he noticed she wasn't resisting, he deepened the kiss. His tongue gently touched hers, teasing her with the tip. Elena wrapped her arms around his neck when she felt that her legs couldn't support her anymore.

God, this man was so intoxicating!

"Elena? Where have you gone?"

The sound of her brother's voice ripped through their private bliss.

O god!

What had they done? Had Jeremy seen them?

She looked up with a flush on her face to find her brother searching for her inside, just a hairsbreadth away from the open doors leading to them. He obviously hadn't seen them, which was a relief.

"O there you are!" Jeremy said when he finally looked their way.

He poked his head outside.

"Stefan is serving dessert. He was looking for you two. Are you coming?" he asked.

Elena took a deep breath and nodded. She glanced at Damon one last time. He seemed very unsure of what had just happened and at a complete loss. Guilt flashed across his face as he looked back at her, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Yes, Jer. I'm coming."

She followed her brother back inside, leaving Damon behind…

**A/N: I would like to give a special thanks to Jaana, my beta. Mollie, for encouraging me to write this and Mirna and Carol, for always letting me know their thoughts, no matter what the story. **

**Also, to my readers; thank you for sticking with me! **

**Okay, so what happens now? They kissed! How will that affect them in the next chapter? Let's just say; the Christmas party is FAR from over!**

**Please review!**

**Twitter: Sandy1983b**


	6. A guilty conscience

**A guilty conscience**

"This chocolate cake is very tasty, Stefan. You've outdone yourself," Grandma Sophia complimented her grandson.

Elena looked at her own piece on the plate that she had been holding. She hadn't eaten a bit and was picking at it with her fork; the guilt over what had happened in the backyard between her and Damon caused a knot in her stomach, leaving her without an appetite.

"Elena, dear. Don't you like the cake? You haven't even taken a bite out of it."

Elena could feel Sophia's concerned eyes on her. But her worried stare wasn't the only one she felt. She didn't even have to look up to know that Damon had been watching her the entire time. "I'm just full from dinner, nana Sophia. I can't eat anymore," she lied, giving the woman a small smile and hoping it was enough to convince her.

"Well, if that's the case, then hand it over to me. I know what to do with it," Sophia winked at her.

Elena nodded and offered the older woman her cake.

"Are you okay, Elena?" Stefan quietly asked her.

She was quick to answer him, seeing the lingering sadness in his green orbs. He was afraid she didn't enjoy the meal. "I'm fine. I wasn't insulting your cooking, honey. I'm just very full."

Elena looked up and her eyes met Damon's. He seemed uncomfortable as well, being in the same room as her, without being able to address what was happening between them. Her entire body was aware of his presence. "You know what? If everyone's finished, I'll clean up and bring everything to the kitchen," she suddenly piped up, scooting her chair backwards and reaching for whatever empty plate she could needed something to do. She needed a way to get rid of this tension; it was eating her alive.

Leaving the room to take a deep breath would be a good start.

When she stopped in front of Damon, she could hardly look at him as he hesitantly handed over his plate. Their fingers brushed and Elena almost released a gasp.

Damon cleared his throat before standing up too. "You know what, I'll help you. My little brother has already done so much. The least I can do is load up the dishwasher. Does anyone want coffee?" Damon's cool façade quickly morphed into a near-ramble.

Elena didn't even wait for everyone's answer as she quickly rushed off towards the kitchen with her small stack of plates. She dropped them on the counter with a clunk and took a shuddery breath.

"Elena..," Damon's deep voice whispered behind her. He was standing so close; she could almost feel the hairs standing up at the nape of her neck. She was almost afraid to turn around. She couldn't even look at him right now!

"We need to talk about what happened," Damon pressed.

Elena picked up the plates and began to load the dishwasher to distract herself. "No, we don't. I love my husband. What happened outside is… well, I don't know what that was. But you can't go around kissing me, Damon!"

"Yeah, well. You kissed me back," he reminded her.

"_Yeah, well," _she mimicked his tone. "That's because you caught me off guard. I was shocked. I needed a moment to think about what happened." Elena still wouldn't look at him and almost threw the forks in the dishwasher.

Suddenly, Damon grasped her wrists to stop her actions and whirled her around. His cobalt eyes trapped her instantly, keeping her rooted to the spot. "You know just as well as I do that if Jeremy hadn't interrupted us, the kiss would have continued for far longer than that. Maybe you were shocked at first, but you were enjoying it, Elena. I could feel it in the way you wrapped your arms around my neck. I could feel it in the way you pressed your body into mine. I could tell by your breathy little moans.."

"Stop!" Elena hissed quietly. She didn't need the whole house to hear what had gone on between them…

"There's something going on between the two of us and you know it!" Damon threw back at her, seeming to speak her mind. "It wasn't just tonight. Whenever you and I are in the same room together, something happens. It's why you fight me so hard. You're fighting us."

Elena yanked her arms out of his grip and shot daggers at him. "God, you are cocky! Stop being so goddamn full of yourself! Just because of the fact that we shared one kiss, doesn't instantly mean that I like you now or am attracted to you in any other way than being my _husband's_ brother. Oh, and I still think that you're a pompous ass!" she barked.

"That's not what you told me outside, Elena."

Elena threw her hands up in the air.

"What? I was trying to give you a compliment about how you were not as bad as I thought you were. But right now, I'm eager to revoke that decision. I love Stefan. It's always going to be Stefan!"

"Does anyone care to share with me what is going on in here?" Grandma Sophia interrupted them.

She was eying them both with a look of disapproval. Elena almost paled. How much had she heard?

"I'm sorry, nana Sophia. Damon and I got into an argument. We didn't mean for it to get so heated and loud. We're sorry if it upset you," she quickly apologised.

"This is Christmas, darlings. We don't fight at Christmas. It is a peaceful celebration shared with people that you love."

Elena looked down. She felt berated. But Sophia was right. It wasn't very decent to be arguing at Christmas.

"We're sorry, grandma. It won't happen again," Damon mumbled, his voice low; seemingly embarrassed.

"Good. Now hurry with that coffee. Stefan says he has an announcement to make. And whatever is going on between you two…fix it. There will be no hostility during Christmas."

Elena frowned at Sophia's words. Stefan had an announcement to make? That came as news to her. He hadn't said a word about it.

"Do you know what's going on with Stefan?" Damon asked her as soon as Sophia left them alone again.

Elena shrugged.

"I have no idea. Let's get this coffee ready and find out."

She was about to leave the kitchen, when Damon stopped her again.

"Elena..," he pressed, lightly taking her by the arm and causing her to pause mid-step.

"Don't, okay?" she pleaded, eyeing the door nervously for anyone else to barge in – God forbid that person be her husband. "You want me to admit it? Yes, you and I.. we have something.. a connection. But that's about it. I'm with Stefan and you have Rebekah. Let's just leave it at that."

With those words, she stalked off…

"Okay, people. As you all know the interest in my pictures is growing rapidly. I sold so many of them during the exposition a few weeks ago. The name Stefan Salvatore is getting heard out there. As it turns out, a gallery owner from New York was at the exposition and was impressed with my work," Stefan told everyone.

He stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by their friends, and he was beaming. Elena was so proud of him. Someone from New York had taken an interest in his work? This was amazing! She smiled at Stefan as his eyes locked with hers.

"In fact, he was so impressed that he wants to display my pictures at his gallery. I'm going to New York, everyone!" he said excitedly.

Elena's mouth dropped open. This was huge!

"Congratulations!" everyone cheered around her husband.

Damon stood up from his seat and patted his brother on the shoulder.

"That's good news, man. When are you going?"

Rebekah got up too and stood next to Stefan, a grin plastered on her face.

"Mr. Holland will be expecting us on December 30th. Looks like me and Stefan will be watching the ball drop in New York on New Year's Eve!"

Wait. Him and Rebekah? He wouldn't be home on New Year's Eve? Elena swallowed back the lump in her throat as she tried to figure out if her boss would give her the time off on such short notice. Sure, December 31st was her day off, but not the day before.

"Stefan," Elena croaked. "There's…there's no way my boss is going to let me leave on such short notice."

Rebekah let out a disconcerting chuckle. "Oh, but you're not supposed to be there."

Elena turned to glare at her. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the blonde chuckled softly as she tossed her loosely curled hair over her shoulder. "That came out a little blunt, didn't it? What I meant was, Mr. Holland will take up most of our time. We won't have the time to go sight seeing. We'll be working around the clock. It would be a shame if you came with us and would have to spend two days alone in New York City," Rebekah explained.

Elena shook her head, turning her attention to her husband. "Don't you think you should have discussed this with me first, Stefan, before dropping the bomb in front of everyone? I mean, this would have been our first New Year's Eve as a married couple." Silence descended over the room and everyone was eyeing her and Stefan warily. "How long have you known about this offer, Stefan?" Elena wanted to know.

Stefan gulped, carefully gauging her reaction as he said, "A few days."

"A few days?" her voice hitched, as she tried to reign back her anger. "We should have decided on this together. I could have made arrangements at work to be allotted the time off. It was supposed to be my own decision if I wanted to spend my time in New York alone, while you were working! We're married and we're supposed to support each other. If you have something big going on in your work, I want to be there," Elena told her husband.

Rebekah stepped forward. "Listen, Elena.."

"Butt out!" Elena snapped at her, her voice coming out harsher than intended but not apologizing for it.

Stefan grasped her shoulders, pleading with her. "I wanted this to be a nice Christmas surprise for everyone. It was perfect. My grandmother is here… my brother is here.. I thought you would be happy for me."

Elena felt the tears prick in her eyes. What was happening here? She and Stefan never argued and certainly not in front of a room full of people. It was embarrassing. She needed to get out of there!

"I'm so sorry about this. I didn't mean to cause a scene; if you would excuse me, I just need to get some air. I'll be right back," she hurriedly explained, before turning around and disappearing out of the dining room, fleeing to her bedroom. She threw the door closed, took off her heals and flopped down on the bed, face down. What a night! She was now fighting BOTH of the Salvatore brothers.

"Merry Christmas to me," she mumbled into her pillow.

She suddenly felt a hand on her upper leg.

"Go away," she snapped without bothering to turn and see who it was.

"Elena, dear." Her heart froze at the gentle voice and instantly regretted using that tone of voice. "Talk to me. I've never seen you as emotional as you were tonight. I mean, first my eldest grandson and then my youngest. Why are you so on edge around them, honey?" Sophia gently asked her.

Elena turned around and leaned back against the headboard, wringing her hands in her lap. "Have you heard, Stefan? He should have told me. I want to be there for him and support him. I can't do that if he's keeping secrets."

"Yes, dear. I did let him have it about not including his wife in this trip. You were right about this being your first New Year's Eve together. He should have talked to first and he should take you with him," Sophia agreed with her.

"Exactly! Well, it's too late now. I can never get time off from work on such short notice," Elena grumbled.

Sophia patted her leg. "I think if you two just talk this out, it will be fine. He should have told you so you could have arranged something. He gets that now. In fact, he's coming up in a few to kiss and make up," she winked.

Elena smiled. "Thank you."

"Okay, then. That still leaves the other Salvatore. What's going on with you and Damon? The two of you are so tense around each other. Stefan has been telling me that the two of you haven't gotten along since day one. Now I know Damon isn't the easiest man, but..."

"Damon and I just don't see eye to eye about some things. But it's okay. I know he is the way that he is," Elena sighed.

Sophia rolled her eyes. "Don't I know it! That boy is impossible to change. His taste in women for instance. Must he always choose the floozy ones? I know that this Rebekah has worked some wonders for Stefan, but she's not marriage material. It's high time that Damon settles down with a nice girl. Someone like you for instance."

Elena's stomach dropped with Sophia's words. If she only knew.. "I… I don't think that Damon has the time for a normal relationship. He's always working."

"Ah yes, the issues that man still has with proving his father wrong about being somebody," Sophia sighed.

Elena raised her eyebrows at those words. So she had been right about Damon's problematic relationship with his father. "How bad was it?" she whispered.

Sophia looked down. "Bad. When my daughter died, Giuseppe changed into a cold and detached man. I watched it happening. He poured all of his frustrations into his company and pressured Damon into getting ready to take over. He badgered him into not being weak. He was supposed to grow up a ruthless businessman. Time and time again he told Damon that he was a huge disappointment as a son. It was heartbreaking and I even confronted Giuseppe about his behaviour towards his eldest son. All he ever said to me was how he wasn't going to let his son fall into the trap that was love."

Elena swallowed, as if literally trying to digest her words as the woman continued.

"It was too painful and he wanted to spare his son from this weak emotion. In a way, he wanted to prevent his son from getting hurt, yes, but it only ended up hurting his son in the worst way possible. I think I know why you two clash so often. You are a passionate and emotional woman, Elena. Damon is the exact opposite and he refuses to let people in. But I know what he was like as a young boy. Damon loves. He loves so completely and without abandon and that scares him. Give him time, Elena. You'll break through his shell. He's not the cold man you think he is."

Elena sat there, stoic at Sophia's words. She didn't _want_ to see Damon any other way. She needed to believe that he was that cold and ruthless man who'd shown himself to her before. Otherwise..

No, she refused to go there.

"Why is Stefan so different?" she asked Sophia, wanting to find a way to distract himself from the raven-haired man that flustered her to no end.

"Because Stefan never had to deal with Giuseppe. He wasn't the first-born. He wasn't supposed to take over the company. Giuseppe just let him be."

Elena nodded. "Thank you for sharing this with me. It think I understand your grandsons a little better now."

Sophia smiled. "They are both very different, but I love them dearly. They are good boys, Elena."

The bedroom door opened to reveal Stefan, standing there a little unsure of himself. "Can I come in?" he asked with caution, rocking back and forth on his heels and giving her a timid smile.

Elena nodded and Sophia quickly got up to leave. "Remember my words, Stefan!" she told her grandson as she walked by him.

Stefan watched as she left the room, before walking over towards Elena. He sat down on the bed and eyed her warily. "I'm sorry," he finally whispered. "I went about things the wrong way. I should have discussed it with you."

Elena sniffled a bit. "It's okay. I know you meant well with the surprise. I _am_ happy for you, Stefan, really. I just want to share that happiness with you," she explained. "I wanted to go with you and it sucks that I can't."

"I know. This will never happen again. I hate arguing with you."

"I hate arguing with you too."

Stefan smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss, before hugging her. Elena returned the hug, but glanced over his shoulder as she saw movement by the door. A pair of cerulean eyes met hers from the doorway, a flash of disappointment in his eyes before his gaze evened out. He gave her a small, soft smirk before disappearing down the hall.

**A/N: Elena will be alone on New Year's Eve. So will Damon. O my... The holidays continue ;) Thank you for having the patience to wait so long for this chapter. I haven't given up on this story. I'm just the type of writer that really wants to please my readers and therefore tend to take a bit longer until I'm happy with what I've written. You have no idea how many things I toss, before finally uploading the chapter. Anyway, a special thanks to Kate (Thisismyescape), for doing the beta work on this chapter. She's a great writer. If you haven't read her stories yet, please do!**

**And please leave me a review if you liked this chapter and want to know more about New Year's Eve!**

**Twitter: Sandy1983b**


	7. New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

Elena followed her husband down the steps and to the car. The cab driver threw open the drunk and Stefan put his suitcase in the back of the cab that was waiting for him.

"Did you get everything you need?" she asked.

"Don't worry. I packed everything. Besides, I'm going to New York City. If I missed anything, I'm bound to find a store there," Stefan joked to her.

Rebekah was standing a few feet away from them, staring at her manicured fingernails in a bored manner. It irked Elena to know that the little bitch watching their every move was going to spend the year's final minutes with her husband.

Elena sighedand attempted to keep calm_._ She knew perfectly well thatshe was acting like an overbearing wife, but this trip still didn't sit well with her. She had a feeling that something was going to happen; something that she wouldn't like very much. She tried to shake it. Stefan loved her and she could trust him.

"Well, that's everything," Stefan sighed, shakingher out of her reverie. Elena eyed him with a pout. He was really doing this."It's only for a few days, honey. I'll be back before you know it and then I'm going to make it up to you big time. In fact…" Stefan paused to get something from his back pocket. It was a white envelope. He handed it to her with a grin. "I think this might be something you like very much. Don't open it until I'm gone. It's a surprise that you and I will get to indulge in when I'm back. We'll start 2013 in a very special way," he promised her.

Elena took it and put her arms around him. "I'll miss you," she whispered into his neck.

Stefan pulled back to quickly peck her on the lips. "I'll miss you too."

"Uhm, Stefan. We really have to go now," the annoying blonde interrupted them, throwing open the car door and crawling in. She all but watched them say their goodbyes.

Elena wanted to glare at herbutsomehow managed to refrain.

"I'll see you in January. I love you," Stefan finally said. He kissed her again, before quickly hopping into the backseat of the cab. Elena watched as the cab started driving away from her.

She then remembered the envelope in her hand and tore it open, forgetting to be gentle. It was a pamphlet of a gorgeous cabin by a lake. Attached to it, was a note from Stefan:

"Dear Elena,

I know I screwed up by leaving you alone on New Year's. This is my way of making it up to you. The cabin you're seeing now has been in the Salvatore family for years. When I get back, I'll take you there for a nice getaway.

I love you.

Stefan."

Elena looked up just as the cab made a turn around the corner, disappearing from sight.

Radioactive-heated food from the microwave…Talk about fine-dining.

Elena eyed the plastic container that held her night's dinner. It looked…damn it, she couldn't even lie – it looked disgusting. Why had she relied on Stefan so much for the cooking, these past few years? She felt like a dummy for not having tried to learn to cook better. Still, she had to eat. She dumped the rubbery food on a plate and curled up in front of the TV in the living room.

Here she was, all alone on New Year's Eve…

Nana Sophia had offered to spend it with her. Though she could have said yes, Elena had turned her down. She knew the older woman had made plans with some friends in Florida. There was no way that Elena was going to ruin that for her; she couldn't be selfish and ruin not just her holiday, but Sophia's too.

She thought about calling her brother, but Jeremy had a young baby and she felt wrong for imposing on his new family.

Caroline was off to The Hampton's with Tyler and the rest of the Lockwood's. Things were getting very serious between those two. So yeah, that left that option out too.

But seriously, was everyone flying off somewhere for New Year's?

Well, there _was_ one option… no. Hell no. She refused to go there. She deemed it best if she and Damon stayed as far away from each other as possible. She hadn't forgotten about that kiss.

Things between them had to stay detached.

She looked at the clock. It was 6 p.m. There were still so many hours to go until midnight. She doubted if she would stay up until then. Things were boring already. She would probably curl up in bed with a good book in the next hour or so.

Just as she took a bite from her horrible food, the doorbell rang. Elena quickly swallowed the meal that barely passed for food down and made it to the front door. Pulling it open, her heart jumped when she saw who was on the other side of it.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned him.

Damon Salvatore was leaning against her doorway, arms crossed, as he gave her the once over. It immediately caused her heart rate to increase.

"Well," he drawled, "A little birdie told me that you would be alone tonight. So I came to see what your plans were." He straightened himself and then pushed past her. He casually strolled into her house, looking around.

"Excuse me, I don't remember inviting you in!" she snapped at him as she closed the door.

Damon ignored her and went into the living room, looking at the scene in front of him. Elena almost felt embarrassed. Here she was, in her sweats in front of the TV with a microwaved meal. God, it seemed pathetic!

"What do we have here?" Damon said as he spotted her plate of food. He grabbed the fork and took a bite. "Mmm, card-boardy!" he quipped, winking when she glared at him.

Elena stomped over to him and snatched the fork from his hand. "I don't appreciate you coming over to make fun of my meal! If you're done here, please leave!" she bit out.

"You call this piece of shit a meal? Oh, Elena. I guess I'll have to feed you properly. Put on some decent clothes. I'll take you to a nice Italian restaurant."

Elena was fuming. Who the hell did he think he was, coming over here and telling her what to do? She wanted him to leave! "Look, Damon. I appreciate you coming over here to check up on me, but I'm fine. New Year's Eve isn't such a big deal. I'll finish my dinner, watch some TV and curl up in bed. Stefan will be home in two days. I'll have my celebration then, okay?"

Damon narrowed his eyes at her. "Elena, my grandmother has better party-plans for tonight than you! Stop being such a buzz-kill and come party with me!"

Elena crossed her arms.

"So this isn't about me, then? You came here because _you _are the one that's bored and wanted to go do something. Well, I'm sorry, Damon. But I'm not going to help you out. Why don't you find one of your old conquests and see if she's up for it?"

She turned around to walk away from him, but he caught her arm and pulled her back, causing her to collide into the hard planes of his chest. She swallowed hard at the sensation that came over her with being so close to him. His body heat almost seared her as she looked up into his eyes. They had darkened considerably. Was it from anger at her outburst.. or was he feeling this too?

"Why do you always feel the need to bite my head off?" he asked with a raised brow, grinning when her brows jumped. She hadn't been expecting him to come back with a retort. "All I did was ask if you wanted to celebrate New Year's with me. I didn't mean anything by it. I was genuinely concerned about the fact that you would be alone tonight." he told her.

Elena immediately felt guilt wrack her conscience. He was right. She was being a bitch. He just had that affect on her. Her attitude was her way of keeping him at bay.

She looked down with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. I'm just cranky."

He smiled at her.

"Come on, Elena. Your microwaved dinner is cold now anyway. I'll take you to a restaurant. Maybe afterwards, we can go to the Mystic Grill. I heard that 'Metric' is performing. It'll be a nice party. I'll have you home right after midnight. What do you say?"

Elena looked from her sweats, to the TV, to the plastic-tasting meal and finally to Damon.

"All right," she said. "I'll go with you."

To say that dinner had been delicious was an understatement.

Damon had taken her to a fancy Italian restaurant and ordered the finest pastas they had, accompanied by some sweet, red wine. Well, Elena had been the only one to enjoy it since Damon was the one doing the driving. Dessert had been even better; raspberry gelato, with fresh fruit surrounding it. She was actually truly grateful that he had dragged her away from her vile-tasting, microwaved food.

Right now, the two were pulling up in front of the Mystic Grill. Loud music could already be heard and the place seemed to be packed. Damon opened up her car door for her, while she stepped out. "This looks great!" Elena squealed, a bit tipsy from the red wine at the restaurant already. She may have had one glass too many, but oh well!

Damon laughed next to her and accompanied her inside, where 'Metric' was indeed performing and the crowd was going wild.

"You were right!" Elena yelled into Damon's ear, trying to make herself heard over the loud music.

"About what?"

"This is turning out to be a really good night. Thank you! And I'm sorry for questioning your motives."

Damon froze a bit as she hugged him, but he relaxed quickly, returning the hug. "You're welcome," he told her.

Elena bounded over towards the dance floor, where she let herself go and enjoy the music. She raised her hands high in the air, while she swayed her hips to the beat.

Damon had indeed been right. If Stefan could go and enjoy this night in New York City, Elena could go and enjoy it there in Mystic Falls. There was no harm in having fun. He joined her on the dance floor, and they jumped around together. Elena put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, while he loosely put his hands on her hips. It was an innocent move, but Elena still felt the electricity between them. She chose to ignore it, though. If she was to stay married to Stefan for the rest of her life, she needed to find a way to get comfortable around his brother. She needed to overcome this attraction.

"I don't think I've ever seen you as.. relaxed as this," Damon commented on her fun attitude this evening.

Elena laughed. "I can be fun! You haven't seen all sides of me yet."

Damon cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I don't think Stefan would appreciate it if I would see _all_ sides of you," he joked.

Elena playfully smacked his chest.

"Admit it. You stepped into that one."

"You know what I meant, you big flirt! Why does everything have to have a double meaning with you?"

Damon never answered her. They left the dance floor and sat down at the bar together.

"Have you heard anything from Rebekah yet?" Elena began making conversation. She really wanted to know, because other than a text from Stefan, saying he had safely landed at Newark Airport, she hadn't heard anymore from him.

Damon squirmed awkwardly in his seat. "Eh, well. Rebekah and I aren't really a thing anymore," he confessed.

Elena's eyes went wide as saucers. _What_?

"What happened?" she squeaked.

Damon shrugged.

"Incompatibility," he replied matter-of-factly.

Suddenly, Elena felt her stomach churn. Stefan was in New York City with a single woman; a woman whom, Elena began to suspect, was interested in him. _And she hadn't heard a single thing from him_!

She swallowed something. Okay, she trusted him. Nothing was going to happen. Everything was fine. He was just working. Yeah. She was sure that she going to get a text from him at any moment…

"All right, ladies and gentlemen. We're going to take a break for a second. Not to worry. We will be back to ring in the New Year with you all. Only half an hour left!" the lead singer announced .

The crowd cheered as a huge clock counted down high on the wall. Meanwhile, a slow song started to play.

Damon took her hand in his.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked her.

Elena gulped. The last time she had slow-danced with him, had been at her wedding. Her emotions had been all over the place then; the instant attraction, the confusion over it, the fact that her husband had been standing three feet away from it all happening, thinking his bride was having a harmless dance with his brother...

She remembered her earlier thoughts. She needed to break this attraction. It would fade over time. She loved Stefan. He was her centre of everything. It was always going to be Stefan.

"Sure," she decided.

From the moment Damon put his right hand at the small of her back, Elena knew that agreeing to dance was a mistake. His closeness was damn near killing her and they'd only been at it for three seconds. He put his left hand in her right hand and began to sway them. This was so different than their earlier dancing. Like at her wedding, this was..intimate. When she looked into his eyes, they were connecting on a level that was plain scary to her. She was blatantly aware of the way her nipples brushed up against his chest; they hardened instantly. She just hoped that he wouldn't notice.

"I'm at a constant place of guilt, you know," Damon suddenly told her, causing Elena to look up at him in confusion.

"Guilt about what?"

"For wanting what I want."

They stopped dancing and stared at each other.

"Damon, don't go there," Elena breathed. "Please."

Damon held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I know. You're with Stefan. It's just frustrating. Here I've been hooking up with women left and right for so long. No one could get under my skin. No one. Until you came along. I saw you and… something happened. And there is nothing I can do about it."

Elena blinked up at him, remembering Sophia's words about Damon never letting anyone in. She also remembered his own words about not wanting to fall into the trap of love or passion. Was he now telling her that he did feel things? For her?

Damon," she whispered.

And just quick as his vulnerability had appeared, it immediately vanished. She could see it happening. His eyes froze over. His armour was back in place. "I'm sorry. I'll take you home," he suddenly snapped.

Elena's eyes widened.

"Damon, it's twenty minutes until midnight! Can't we just stay until then?" But he had already stalked off towards the car, not giving her any room to debate. She grumbled after him, confused about his hot and cold behaviour. She slid into the seat next to him, fuming.

The drive home was eerily quiet. When they arrived back at the boarding house, Elena slammed the car door shut and stomped towards her front door, opening it.

"What? Are you mad now?" Damon asked her, hot on her trail.

Elena didn't answer him yet. She couldn't; she stepped inside, almost throwing the front door straight into his face. He caught it in time and followed her inside.

"You are a piece of work, Salvatore!" she finally bit out. "Here I was, ready to celebrate New Year's on my own with a good book. Then you come over here and drag me out of my own house, saying how boring I am for being at home at midnight on New Year's Eve! So I go with you. We have dinner, we dance a little.. and guess what?"

Elena eyed the grandfather clock in the hallway. Five more minutes until 2013 was here and 2012 was gone. She pointed at it angrily. "I'm home on New Year's Eve at midnight! What the hell was your point if you were just going to dump me on my doorstep while everyone is still out celebrating! I don't understand you. I guess I never will. Now get out!"

Damon crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Are you seriously mad at me for having you home on time? Or is it something else?"

He stepped a little closer to her. "Why don't you tell me what you're really mad about?" he challenged her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! Get out!" she shouted, fed up with his presence and persistence. He was getting too close.

And just like that, Damon stepped even closer, and Elena raised her hand in a threatening matter. If he continued this, she was going to slap him.

"You know what? Forget it. You're just not worth it," he said angrily. He turned around, ready to open the front door.

Elena's mouth dropped open at his words. "I'm not worth it? _I'm_ not worth it?! Look who's talking about worth, Mr. Bargain Basement!"

Damon whirled back around. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look at your track record, Damon. Worth? Stefan knows more about it than you ever will! He's got values and standards. You just grab the nearest pencil skirt!"

Damon invaded her personal space, breathing down on her. For some reason, Elena was breathing very heavy now. It was like her body was building up towards an explosion.

"That sounds a lot like jealousy, Elena," Damon taunted her, his blue eyes blazing furiously.

Elena huffed. "Hardly!"

"Liar."

"Jerk!"

"Bitch!"

"I hate you!"

"At the moment," He scoffed angrily, shaking his head and stepping one foot closer to her until they were nose-to-nose. "I'm not your biggest fan either!"

_Gong…Gong…Gong…Gong…Gong…Gong…_

Both of them stopped their bickering to look at the grandfather clock, telling them that the New Year had arrived. When they looked back into each other's eyes, both heaving with their outbursts, all of the air seemed to disappear from the room. They crashed their lips into each other, just as the clock struck twelve…

**A/N: **Yay! My final update for this story before the New Year sets in. Oh my.. Damon and Elena started 2013 with some heavy fireworks ;) How will this continue? I know; how awful to leave 2012 like this :P Please review with your thoughts!

Okay, I won't make this too long, but I want to give out some special thanks: This one is dedicated to my beta Kate, for helping me with my English grammar. Also to Mirna; who was there for me when I wasn't feeling well and to Mollie, who is my biggest encourager. Her excitement for my stories is moving.

Twitter: Some of you may have noticed that I deleted my old account (Sandy1983b). I made a new one (plainoldSandra), because I wanted to feel free to tweet about whatever I wanted. So this one will be for fun and story updates.


	8. The Consequence of Love

_The Consequence of Love_

Elena eyed the arrivals board. Stefan's plane had landed on time, so where was he? She had been standing there for the past 20 minutes; a knot in her stomach and her heart caught in her throat. Not because she was a newlywed, anxious to see her husband. No, she was nervous because she had screwed up. She had stepped over the line with his brother Damon, and had made out with him on New Year's Eve.

She felt like a hypocrite; one minute she had been worried about Stefan, being together with Rebekah in a different city on New Year's Eve. The next minute she was the one doing what she had feared that Stefan would do; she had cheated on her husband.

This was not what she had expected her life to be when Stefan had proposed to her months ago. She had wanted the perfect life with a white picket fence. Now, life wasn't so perfect for her anymore; _she _wasn't perfect.

Staring at the _'Welcome Home'_ balloon, the ribbon clutched in her hand, she felt ridiculous. She hated herself. She had managed to betray one brother and had stomped on the heart of the other. The look on the latter's face was not something that she would be forgetting anytime soon…

_As soon as Damon's lips touched hers, there was a fire inside of her so fierce and strong that she thought it could never be extinguished again. When he kissed her, the world spun on its axis. With every slide of his tongue against hers, nothing mattered anymore, except that feeling that she was meant for this. She was meant to touch him, hold him, caress his perfect skin and bury her hands in his black hair. _

_Elena moaned as Damon hoisted her up against the wall and his arousal came in contact with her sweet folds, still clothed with her underwear. Her hands slid down his chest, wanting to feel him. She needed his bare skin under her hands and grasped his shirt tightly, before ripping it open. Buttons flew everywhere as Elena was finally within reach of that warm, pale skin. His nipples puckered underneath her palms as she slid her hands over them. _

"_Elena," Damon breathed against the side of her face. Her name had never sounded so sacred; like a prayer. But what they were doing was far from sacred. Elena's eyes widened as the realisation hit her full force. _

_This was wrong, so wrong. _

_She planted her hands firmly on Damon's bare chest, before pushing him off of her. He stumbled back in confusion, eying her with concerned eyes. "What's the matter?" he asked, still panting from their sinful kiss. _

"_What's the matter?" she almost laughed. "What's the matter? What are we doing here, Damon? I am married… to your brother, no less! This… this can't be me. This isn't happening."_

_Damon raised his hand to touch her cheek, but she fended him off. "Don't!" she warned. _

_He dropped his hands to his sides, defeated. "Listen, Elena. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you, you're right. And you shouldn't have kissed me. It is wrong and unfair to my brother in so many ways, I get that. But you can't deny that what we have here is _real_. Something is happening between us and you know that! How long are we going to lie about this? Do you think that it's fair to my brother that his wife has feelings for someone else?"_

_Elena ran a hand through her hair. "Don't tell me what I'm feeling, Damon. I'm barely figuring this out myself. What we have here; is this love or is it just some sort of lust? I need to think! I can't jeopardise my marriage on a silly little infatuation!"_

_Damon narrowed his eyes at her. "You call this an infatuation? You call lying awake at night, not being able to concentrate during the day and always fighting against it because you feel guilty towards Stefan, an infatuation?" _

_He took a deep breath, before continuing. "If this was an infatuation, Elena, it would be easy. Everyone has fantasies now and then, there is no harm in them. No, it becomes dangerous when this 'infatuation' is able to penetrate the walls around your heart and nestles firmly inside. You are not an infatuation, Elena, not to me. To me, you are love. Love, that I have never felt for anyone or anything."_

_Elena's eyes widened at his confession. Damon smiled painfully at her expression. _

"_Yeah, you heard it right. I love you; the annoyingly, frustratingly beautiful woman who married my brother. And I feel god-awful about it. My life was simple before you came along, Elena. I got up in the morning, went to work, left work, went to a bar, picked up a woman and got laid. That was it; that was all that I had to worry about. Until you came along. Now, I can't get any work done, I'm not satisfied anymore by a blonde with a nice rack and I'm miserable. You got me here, Elena, you and your nice little speech about passion that is worth fighting for. Now you can see it for yourself; passion doesn't save people, it ends them."_

_Silence filled the room as they stared at each other. Elena was shivering, but not because she was cold. A part of her wanted to grin like a giddy child, because Damon, cold-hearted, non-passionate believer Damon, had just told her that he loved her. _

_But the other part of her was confused; did Elena love him back? Was what she was feeling strong enough to even consider leaving Stefan? And even if she did, what would this do to their bond? She could potentially destroy them. _

_The right thing would be to walk away from this; to order Damon to leave, turn around and make a vow to herself never to let Stefan go again. Yes, that would be right. She couldn't do it; she couldn't tell Stefan she was having feelings for his brother and watch it break them apart. _

"_Damon...," she began. Her tone of voice immediately caused a flash of pain in his eyes. It was like a shot through her heart. This was exactly what she was afraid of; she didn't want to hurt either one of them, but it seemed as if she had to. She chose to hurt the oldest brother. _

"_I think it would be bes__t,"__she began hesitantly, waiting for the bomb of her decision to detonate,__ "if you and I try to stay away from each other, because when you're around, it throws me. We should just go about our lives. I can't hurt your brother, Damon, which is why we have to do this. We keep our distance until some time has passed. Maybe a lot… given enough time we should be able to…"_

"_Forget?" Damon snapped, finishing her sentence for her. _

_Elena nearly hung her head in shame. "Yeah..," she whispered. _

_She swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat as she watched the hard shell being put back in place with Damon. There he went. The warmth in his eyes was gone and she was the cause of that; she had destroyed his love. But she couldn't crack now. She had to do this, so she straightened her shoulders and delivered the final blow. _

"_Maybe you should go, so we can start forgetting. I guess we've covered it; this is all there is really to say."_

_Her heart lurched as Damon almost reared back with her words. His eyes narrowed and shot fire at her. _

"_This thing between us; it's over. I'm done with this," he spat. _

_Elena raised her chin defiantly into the air. "Good. Finally." She watched as he turned around and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Silence returned to the house as Elena stood frozen, staring at the door where Damon just left. Tears were slowly starting to stream down her face, until finally, a sob tore its way through her body and it reached her throat. She doubled over in pain and sank to her knees as her small body released wails of anguish…._

Elena gripped the silly little balloon tighter as her knees trembled with the memory of her decision to send Damon away. It was sad how she had realised, with the way it had felt as if someone had ripped out her insides after Damon had left, that she indeed did love him… very much. She hadn't been able to stop crying that night.

But she had made her decision. How could she and Damon be together if the cost was their brotherly bond? No, she had done the right thing.

"Stefan!" she yelled out as she spotted him finally entering the arrivals hall. His tired emerald eyes landed on her, giving her a small smile. Rebekah was with him, not looking too great herself, actually. They looked exhausted. Had their job in New York been that stressful?

"Elena," he said, giving her what felt like an awkward hug.

"Did everything go all right in New York?" she asked, at bit wary with the way he almost wouldn't look at her. Stefan nodded. "Would you mind if I told you about it at home? I'm beat right now."

"Sure," Elena hesitated, before giving him the balloon. Rebekah eyed it with disdain.

"How… nice of you," she stated, clearly indicating that she didn't think that it looked that way at all. Elena rolled her eyes at her, before linking her arm around her husband's. "I just wanted to do something nice for you," she told him quietly.

Stefan gave her an absentminded smile, before walking towards the exit with them. "Where did you park your car?" he asked.

"At the parking garage at the very back of the airport. We're going to have to walk a bit…"

To say that the car ride back home was quiet, was an understatement. Elena watched with concern as her husband stared vacantly out of his window. Rebekah was sitting in the backseat and wasn't faring any better. She was more grumpy than usual; something was obviously bothering her.

"So, any details?" Elena offered. "How did it go? Did they love your work?"

Stefan turned his head to look at her, his eyes almost vacant. "I think they thought it was nice enough," he shrugged. What was with his attitude? Usually, he was so excited to share his stories about expositions with her. She was beginning to think that something happened in New York, that wasn't exciting at all, and that scared her.

What happened to her husband?

She decided to try a new approach. "You know, I talked to Caroline on the phone on New Year's Eve. She told me that even though she was in the Hamptons with Tyler, she might try to take a subway and see if she could catch your exposition. Did she go? Did you run into her there?"

Stefan had nothing to say in response.

The silence in the car was starting to irritate Elena to no end. She was trying to be a supportive wife by picking him up from the airport and inquiring about his big break in New York City. And here he was, giving her the silent treatment.

Her heart began to pound as a thought popped into her head. Had he somehow found out about her meeting up with Damon on New Year's Eve? He wouldn't have said anything, would he?

She looked at her husband's features; they were stiff and tight. What the hell was going on?

"I'm sorry, Elena. I'll talk later. I'm just so tired right now," Stefan replied curtly.

Elena nodded and kept her eyes on the road. She would have to wait. Her curious mind about what happened went into overdrive as they dropped Rebekah off at her place. It almost seemed as if she shot Stefan a dirty look, before turning around and entering her apartment building. Stefan didn't react, however, leaving Elena to wonder if she had only envisioned it.

When they got home, he went straight upstairs, leaving her alone with the suitcases. She decided to let him be for a while, and unpacked all of his stuff, putting some of his clothes into the laundry. Finally, she approached the bedroom.

He was undressed and in bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly. Elena began to get a little angry, she was done with this treatment; she was going to get some answers! She walked over towards him, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"What happened in New York, Stefan?" she asked in a firm voice.

Stefan didn't look at her and kept his eyes on the ceiling. "Rebekah and I, we got into a fight," he finally confessed.

Elena frowned. "About what?"

"Does that really matter? Our trip was shot to hell because of it. Mr. Holland loved my work and yes, I have a few buyers. But it seems as if Rebekah won't be representing me anymore after this trip."

"Why? She's worked with you for so long now. I'm sure that one fight isn't going to immediately jeopardise everything. Let her cool off, whatever it is. She'll come back," Elena tried to soothe him.

Stefan rolled onto his side to face her and supported his head with his hand. "Did you know that she and Damon had broken things off?"

Elena swallowed at the sound of that name; that name that she was trying so hard to get out of her system. "Yes, I did," she confessed. Stefan frowned at that, so Elena felt the need to specify. "He came over on New Year's Eve. We went out, had ourselves some dinner and went dancing afterwards. He told me then."

"Really? I didn't know that the two of you were that close that he would confide in you," Stefan said, surprised.

Elena shrugged. "I guess he felt alone that night and he wanted to tell somebody." God, this was killing her!

"Yeah, but still. I mean, _you_? The two of you argue all the time. I figured you would be the last person he would fess up to."

Elena squirmed a bit uncomfortably. "Like I said; he was alone and didn't have anybody. Back on topic here, Stefan. I've watched Rebekah work with you all these months. She adores you and your work, the falling out that the two of you had must have been sensational for her to back out like this."

Stefan flopped back down on his back. "It's not important. I'll find someone else to book my expositions. I'm done with her."

Those last few words reminded Elena all too well of what Damon had said to her…

"I'm going to go to sleep, okay? I'll try and be in a better mood tomorrow."

Elena watched as Stefan turned onto his other side, ready to settle in. He was obviously done talking for the night. She remained seated long after he had fallen asleep, her mind a whirlwind. She had betrayed this man, her husband. She was going to do all that she could to make it up to him.

Quietly, she crept downstairs, not ready to go to sleep herself. She decided to make herself some warm milk; that would settle her thoughts. As she passed Stefan's coat, she saw that it had some dirt on it. Well, that wouldn't do! Taking it off the coat rack, she carried it upstairs towards the washing machine. Checking the pockets before putting it in, her hand came across a note.

Frowning, Elena took at out and read it:

"_I'm so sorry about all this. –C"_

C? Who was C? Caroline? This only added to her questions about what went wrong in New York. So Caroline had found him? Why was he staying so quiet? It made her feel really uneasy. Of course, she wasn't one to talk. She was keeping something from him as well.

She finished up with the laundry and went back towards the bedroom, to find Stefan talking to someone on the phone. From the sound of it, Stefan didn't like where the phone call was going.

"Come on, you can't go back! Look, I know that I've been a little absent lately, but we can catch up now. Please!"

Elena narrowed her eyes and walked over towards where Stefan was sitting.

"Don't do this! Yeah… Yeah, I know. How about I come over right now, we make a night of it, and after that, if you still want to do this… I won't stop you."

Something gripped Elena's heart as she was beginning to suspect what this call was all about. No, this wasn't happening. This simply could not happen; that was unacceptable. Not after everything…

Stefan hung up and immediately jumped into his pants, that where lying on the floor. "I have to go," he announced.

Elena nodded. "Yeah, I got that. What's going on?"

"Damon said he was leaving. He's going back to Italy…"

**A/N: I know some of my readers have had issues with Elena's hypocrisy in the last chapter. I just want to say that I knew what she was like, I wrote her that way on purpose. She needed to realise her behaviour on her own terms, and I feel like she did in this chapter. She only managed to dig herself in even deeper ;) **

**Anyway, I hope you like the cliffy. Thank you so much for reading. Please leave me a review and let me know that you stopped by :)**

**Special thanks: I completely forgot to mention Kate (This Is My Escape) as my beta with my last update. I still feel god-awful about this, so I'm making amends here. Kate is simply awesome! Read her stories here on fanfiction. You won't regret it ;) **


	9. Let Him Go

**A/N: I understand how long it's been, so I'll also understand if this doesn't attract a whole lot of readers anymore. Yes, I'm a fickle writer, my mind is all over the place, and I took a break from this to write another story (which is now finished). I get it if this frustrated you all. The truth is, I needed to let go of this story for a while. I noticed people becoming irritated with Elena and just about everyone else in here, so I took a step back and tried to think about where I wanted to go with this. Everyone had a theory about Stefan, Caroline, Rebekah, Damon and Elena, so I decided to take your expectations and go somewhere completely different. I hope I can surprise you all ;) Hugs to those who are still with me here. **

_**Let Him Go**_

"Nana Sophia?" Elena quirked her eyebrows in surprise, as she spotted the elderly lady on her doorstep. "What a lovely surprise, I didn't know you were in town. Please, come in."

Something was off; Elena felt it as soon as Sophia stepped inside without smiling at her just once. She handed Elena her coat and walked over towards the living room, where she took a seat on the couch.

"Can I get you anything? Coffee, or tea?" Elena offered carefully.

"No, thank you. This isn't really a social call, Elena. I came here to talk to you about something."

"Oh, okay." Elena shuffled her feet a bit, before walking over towards Sophia and sitting down next to her. Her heart was pounding in her throat because of whatever was hanging in the air. Sophia put her purse down on the floor and folded her hands in her lap, before taking a deep breath.

"I just talked to my grandson on the phone. It seems like he's about to leave for Italy again. The last time he has done this, was when Giuseppe died and he felt like escaping the pity party he got from people around him. I asked him to stay and wanted to know what was wrong. The boy had the audacity to tell me it was none of my business! After I properly berated him for his language, he did say it was about wanting to move on from things that were holding him back here. Of course I'm not a dense woman, Elena. I witnessed some things during my visit. As much as you claim to love Stefan, my other grandson was constantly in your line of sight. Damon is leaving because of you."

It wasn't even a question; it was a statement. Elena had no idea how to answer this woman, who loved both of her grandsons dearly. Of course, she didn't want either one of them to get hurt, which was probably why she was here now; to tell her off.

"I messed up," she whispered softly, casting her eyes downward.

"Yes, you did. Elena, there was a reason why I gave you a little insight into Damon's mind on Christmas. I saw it happening; I saw how you were with Stefan, and I saw how you were with Damon. You fought him way too hard for it to just be a dislike towards his personality. No, you were fighting off feelings. The same thing could be said for Damon. I figured you needed to work things out for yourself, which was why I gave a little nudge. I'm sad to see that it didn't help at all. This is quite a mess that you've created," Sophia told her in a firm voice.

Elena bit her lip, still not looking up. Tears were beginning to swim in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she meekly said. "Stefan is with Damon as we speak. He's trying to stop him and I hope he'll succeed. If he won't, then I might go over towards Damon's house and ask him to stay myself."

"You will do no such thing!"

Elena jumped a little at the older woman's outburst.

"I don't think you're a bad person, Elena. But I do think that you've made some poor decisions here; decisions that affected everyone involved in this. What I think you need to do, is to stop chasing after Damon, talk to Stefan and figure out for yourself what you want out of life and love. Because, right now, it's quite obvious that you don't. As long as you're not sure about what you feel and for whom, you need to let Damon go, because this situation could very well destroy him," Sophia explained.

Finally, the tears rolled down Elena's cheeks. Sophia was right; it wasn't fair to either Stefan or Damon to carry on this way. Everyone needed to set some things straight for themselves.

"Be honest, Elena. With both of my grandsons and yourself," Sophia advised her, as she reached into her purse to pull out some tissues. Elena accepted them gratefully and dabbed at her eyes.

"I think you're being very kind to me after everything," Elena softly cried.

Sophia sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Like I said; I don't think you're a bad person, or that you deliberately worked yourself into this situation. But you can still do the right thing here."

Elena nodded and gave a meek smile.

The front door suddenly opened behind them, revealing Stefan. He was alone, Elena noted, which probably meant he hadn't been able to get through to Damon. He was still leaving. She swallowed hard at the thought.

"Nana Sophia? I didn't know you were going to be here," Stefan said, as he noticed his grandmother.

"I just wanted to catch up with Elena. But I'll leave now. I think the two of you need to spend some time together and talk."

Stefan frowned at her words, but chose to remain silent, kissing his grandmother on the cheek as she walked by him. "I'll walk you out," he offered.

"Thank you, dear."

Sophia smiled at Elena, before taking her coat and quietly slipping out the door.

Stefan looked tired, as he walked back into the living room. Elena didn't think she had ever seen him look so haggard.

"Well, these have certainly been the most eventful days of my life," he breathed.

"I'm sorry that Damon is leaving," Elena told him. "You had just re-connected with him and now he's going back to Italy."

Stefan nodded, but never looked at her. He seemed to be in a trance; watching the flames dance in front of him. Maybe this was not the right time to tell him about everything, she thought. But then she remembered Sophia's words about how she had handled things before; her hiding things had caused a seriously messed up situation. If she chose to remain silent, she would only end up hurting these brothers more.

With a pounding heart, she opened her mouth to speak.

"We need to talk."

Much to Elena's surprise, they had both spoken the same sentence at the exact same moment. Wait, _he _wanted to talk? Had Damon already told him? Or did he figure things out on his own? _Or_… this could be about why he had behaved so strange after she had come to pick him up at the airport.

Stefan eyed her carefully, his face not revealing anything. Finally, he spoke up.

"I guess I already know what you want to talk about; I behaved like a complete idiot when I came home. You certainly didn't deserve that attitude from me. But I needed to think things through first, so now I can tell you what _exactly_ has happened in New York."

Elena frowned. So her spidey-sense _had_ been correct; something was up.

"In New York, everything had started out great. I was at Mr. Holland's exposition of my pictures with Rebekah, people were buying and then I ran into Caroline. Apparently, she had come all the way from her party in the Hamptons to see the show. I noticed she was upset, however. Her mascara seemed to be a bit smeared, and we all know that smeared make-up is not acceptable for Caroline."

That was very much the truth, Stefan knew their friend well, Elena thought with a small smile.

"Anyway, I took her aside and asked what was up. It seemed she had gotten into a fight with Tyler right before she left. After she had told me, she burst into tears again, so I chose to escort her outside to talk to her. To say that Rebekah was livid is an understatement. She didn't understand how I could walk out on my own show to help some blubbering blonde. In her opinion, this was the shot of a lifetime, and I was blowing it. I brushed her off and took Caroline to a little coffee shop around the corner. There, she said something that caused my earlier behaviour. I just needed to think about that moment, I needed to know for sure how I was going to answer her. I left her sitting there in that coffee shop and I also left Rebekah stranded at the exposition. I went back to my hotel room and rang in the New Year on my own."

Elena nodded, although she had no idea what Stefan was talking about. Caroline was the reason why he was upset?

"What did Caroline say to you?" she gently asked.

Stefan turned his face away from her to watch the flames again. After a silence that seemed to drag on forever, he finally answered her: "She said the fight with Tyler had been about me. He had noticed something she had repressed for months."

"About you?" Elena said in confusion.

"She said she's in love with me."

Utter shock ran through Elena's body at those words. Caroline was in love with Stefan? Her best friend Caroline? Wait. Stefan had said he needed some time to think about what he was going to answer her… What did that even mean? Was he….?

She was stumped, at loss for what to say. Not even in a million years would she have seen this coming.

"So that was my trip in a nutshell; a terrible blow out with Rebekah, and a conversation with Caroline that left me confused," Stefan continued.

Elena bit her lip. "What are you confused about, actually?" she managed to ask.

Stefan ran a hand through his hair for the umpteenth time. He refused to look at her and his leg was doing a nervous twitching.

"Her confession did something to me; it made me question my feelings," he admitted.

"For her or for me?"

"Both."

Again, silence.

Elena didn't even know what to say anymore. This day was baffling her.

"God, what a mess we have created here, indeed," she finally said, burying her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I… I do love you…"

"But you just don't know if it's enough anymore."

Stefan was surprised by the way she had finished his sentence. He eyed her a bit strangely. "You seem to know exactly what I'm talking about," he said.

Elena sighed.

"Well, I kind of do. I also wanted to talk to you tonight. You see, I understand exactly what you're saying, because I've been struggling with feelings for someone else as well. Only, I didn't handle it as delicately as you did."

A chuckle escaped Stefan, as he shook his head with a sad smile. "We sure are a great married couple, aren't we? I mean, we've only been in this marriage for a few months and we're already screwing it up big time!"

"This is actually why your grandmother was over here; she wanted me to talk to you and figure out what I want out of life. I think she was basically asking me to take a step back from our marriage, from everything, to see what I wanted to do," Elena told her husband.

Stefan cocked an eyebrow at her.

"My grandmother _knows_ about your feelings for someone else?"

Elena held up her hands in defence. "I've never told her, she just guessed. But she's right. You and I both need to take a step back here and do some soul searching. You need to figure out if you're in love with Caroline, and I…"

Elena fell silent after that. What did _she_ need to do exactly, now that Stefan knew that she had feelings for someone else? Just because he had cleared the way for her to walk away from their marriage, didn't mean it was okay if she just stepped right into Damon's arms. Did she really love him? Did she want to spend the rest of her life with him? If she wasn't sure about any of this, she had to let him go. It wasn't fair if she asked him to stay. She needed to figure things out.

"You what?" Stefan asked, still waiting for her to finish that sentence.

"I need to move out and let us be for a while. If our love for each other is strong enough, we'll find our way back to each other. If it's not, we'll move on and start over with someone else."

Stefan gave a silent nod, agreeing with her. "Maybe the best time for you to move out would be tomorrow morning. I convinced Damon not to leave tonight, but tomorrow. He's coming over early, so I can drive him to the airport and take his car afterwards. I'll be gone. I guess it will be less awkward that way."

He shuffled his feet a bit and looked at her, his pain over their failing marriage visible in his eyes for the first time. Elena swallowed hard. So she was about to say goodbye to both Damon _and_ Stefan in the morning? Well, she deserved it because of the way she had treated both of them.

"Stefan, I want you to know that I love you. I will always love you and you'll always have a little piece of my heart. No matter what happens between us after this," she said with a hitch in her voice.

Stefan gave her a pained smile, before getting up and walking out of the room, leaving her with her thoughts….

"_Somehow, I never pegged you for a 'Fifty Shades of Grey' kind of girl," Damon joked as he snuck up on Elena, reading on the couch._

_Elena looked up, glaring at him._

"_This is not 'Fifty Shades of Grey'! This book is called 'Bared to You,' something completely different."_

_Damon casually plopped down on the couch next to her, picking up her feet and placing them in his lap. It caused serious warmth spreading everywhere he touched her, but she chose to remain silent about it, focussing on defending her novel instead._

"_Isn't that stuff basically the same thing? Admit it, Elena. You like a little pain with your pleasure," Damon winked. _

_Elena slapped the book at him. "I do not! This book is so well written. Much better than 'Fifty Shades of Grey!' It's something completely different, and you cannot compare the two. It's an interesting novel, so drop it!"_

"_The only thing that's interesting to me is the part where the girl likes it when the guy spanks her butt!"_

_Elena rolled her eyes. "Of course, that's how a man would see it. Your kind completely misses the fact that there's an actual story behind it! Really, Damon. The books are so layered and complex, it's just interesting for a girl to read."_

"_If a man ever gets the story behind a romance novel for women, I'd say he's not a real man. All we see is the sex," Damon replied smugly. _

_Elena's eyes shot daggers at him. _

"_You're a disgusting pig!"_

"_I'm a man. There's a difference," Damon informed her. "Do you know why we like our ladies reading crap like this? Because it gets them in a certain mood."_

_Elena held up her book in front of her face, to block out the vision of Damon waggling his eyebrows suggestively. _

"_Why are you even here, Damon? Stefan's out," she bit out. _

"_I just came by for my weekly dose of banter. I'm happy to see that you always deliver."_

_Elena put her book down again and narrowed her eyes at him. _

"_Thank you. You can leave now."_

"_Where exactly is Stefan at? I think it's a safe bet to assume he's going to be better company than you are."_

"_Ha ha. He's at his loft. Go and bother him."_

_Damon slipped out from underneath her feet and was on his way to the front door, when he suddenly stopped and turned around again. _

"_Oh and Elena? I agree with you, the sex in 'Bared to You' is way better than the sex in 'Fifty Shades of Grey,'" he chuckled. _

_Quickly, he closed the front door behind him, just as Elena's book hit it full force… _

Elena smiled as she remembered one of their many banters, just as Damon showed up on her doorstep the next morning, ready for Stefan to take him to the airport. Gone was the playful man from all those weeks ago, as he eyed her up and down without any spark whatsoever in his eyes. Things were so different now.

"Elena," he nodded, as he entered the house, looking around for his brother.

"Hey, Damon. Do you have everything? Suitcase, tickets, toothbrush?" Stefan tried to joke.

"Yeah, I do. Let's get going, huh? I don't want to hit a traffic jam and be late."

Elena frowned as she noticed how eager he was to leave the house, and mainly her. He didn't know about her split up with Stefan, of course. He still thought she had brushed him off to be with Stefan, which basically, she had. But that was before Nana Sophia had talked some sense into her, before she had realised she needed to let _both_ brothers go for now. A lump formed in her throat as she realised this would be the last time she would see Damon, at least for now.

"Okay, let me get my jacket and I'll be with you," Stefan interrupted her musings. He walked away for a moment, leaving her alone with his brother.

"Damon… I," she tried, but he held up his hand to silence her.

"Don't. You've made your point. Let's just leave it that, okay? I hope you and my brother will have a happy life."

Tears formed into Elena's eyes, but she knew she wasn't allowed to cry them. She was the reason why this had become a mess. She just hoped Damon would find whatever he was looking for in Italy.

"I hope you have a safe trip, okay? I hope that Italy treats you kindly, and that you get everything you want out of life."

Her voice cracked, but she couldn't help it.

"All right, let's get going," Stefan interrupted them, as he came back with his jacket on.

Damon nodded and opened the door. He glanced at Elena one last time, before turning around. She stared at his retreating back.

"Wait!" she cried suddenly.

Her feet quickly carried her to where Damon stood and she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him for all she was worth. He stiffly returned the hug. She knew it was mostly for show, because he didn't want Stefan to think something was up. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have hugged her at all.

"Goodbye, Damon."

He released her and looked into her eyes one last time. Tears were running down her cheeks, but at this point she didn't care anymore.

"Goodbye, Elena."

He turned around and stepped into the car, leaving only Stefan and Elena out on the pavement. He eyed her with a frown as she watched the realisation coming over him.

"Damon is the man you're having feelings for, isn't he?" he almost whispered.

Elena nodded.

"He is…"

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